Netflix and Guillermo Del Toro have been a match made in heaven in 2022. Back in October, the Academy Award-winning director dazzled horror fans with his excellent live-action anthology series Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, and now his take on Pinocchio, a lifelong passion project for him, is receiving near-universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike. The two have solidified his creative presence on the streamer, leaving fans wondering what's next from the acclaimed filmmaker. To celebrate the latter's release on Friday, December 9, Collider's own Steve Weintraub interviewed Del Toro about his stop-motion marvel and asked about his future after Pinocchio and whether Cabinet of Curiosities is involved.
Cabinet of Curiosities offered something for horror fans of every ilk, hitting on everything from grotesque body horror to psychological terror all curated by the man himself Del Toro. The series oozed his signature style, though it also gave a lot of room to breathe for the talented group of directors, writers, and actors he curated for the occasion, resulting in heavily stylized individual episodes like Panos Cosmatos's "The Viewing" and unique, suffocating experiences like Ana Lily Amirpour's "The Outside." The format begs for a second season with more of Del Toro's favorite directors and certainly the success could help that along even though the production cost is high. The series debuted at #2 on the Nielsen streaming chart with 1.1 billion minutes watched, losing out only to Ryan Murphy's The Watcher.
When asked about what's next, Del Toro revealed he's still waiting on Netflix for an answer regarding Season 2 of his horror anthology, though he admitted it's a ton of work to put the show together. That said, he did have an update for fans curious about his next film:
We got the thing I published on Twitter about a billion views, or whatever that is. It is a very mysterious process to get the yes or the no. Either way is good news for me because producing eight features in one year was really, really difficult. I would love to provide another season to get some really interesting people behind the camera, protected, and cherished, but on the other hand, I have a feature coming that I will start shooting probably in August, announcement soon to come, and I know it would be very difficult. If they say yes, we'll make the effort and do it, but if they say no, I'll go almost, “Phew.”
If Season 2 does eventually become reality, Del Toro already has a list of potential directors he'd like to bring into his Cabinet of Curiosities. Among them are creatives that missed out on Season 1 for one reason or another like Jayro Bustamente, Issa Lopez, and Boots Riley as well as other filmmakers he wants to feature like Larry Fessenden. Season 1 saw a stacked roster of its own, featuring Cosmatos, Amirpour, Catherine Hardwicke, Jennifer Kent, Guillermo Navarro, David Prior, Vincenzo Natali, and Keith Thomas.
Guillermo Del Toro Will Unveil His Next Project Soon
There's little to no hint as to what Del Toro's next major project will be, but with filming to begin next summer, details are sure to come out sooner rather than later. It'll have a tough act to follow considering the rousing success of Pinocchio though. His dream project came equipped with a dream cast starring Gregory Mann, David Bradley, Ewan McGregor, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, Finn Wolfhard, Ron Perlman, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, and Burn Gorman. Thanks to its ability to embrace the eminent creepiness of the original tale while more thoroughly exploring its characters in a way that feels unique to Del Toro, Ross Bonaime gave the film a B+, calling it the best adaptation since Disney's classic animation.
Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio is now streaming on Netflix, joining Cabinet of Curiosities on the platform.