Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac in “Frankenstein.”
Netflix/Ken Woroner
Frankenstein — writer-director Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of the classic Mary Shelley novel — will play in some IMAX theaters during the film’s upcoming theatrical run before it heads to Netflix.
Frankenstein, which is the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s lifelong passion project, will begin its limited run in theaters on Oct. 17 before arriving on Netflix on Nov. 7. The film held its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in late August and also played at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month.
While the exact number of theaters Frankenstein will be playing in is yet to be announced, IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond revealed Thursday at the Axios Media Live conference in New York that some of the theaters are IMAX venues.
“It really is a theatrical movie,” Gelfond told attendees at the conference (via Deadline). “You know, Frankenstein and IMAX [are] great synergy. He’s big. IMAX is big, loud,” noting it will debut in “a couple of weeks.”
While Gelfond didn’t indicate the number of IMAX theaters Frankenstein will be playing in, Deadline noted that “it will be a quite limited footprint of about 10 screenings.”
One audience has already had a look at Frankenstein in IMAX. According to The Hollywood Reporter, del Toro screened his IMAX cut of the film at the Busan International Film Festival in Busan, South Korea.
Frankenstein stars Oscar Isaac as Dr. Victor Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as Frankenstein’s Monster and Goth as Victor’s fiancée, Elizabeth Lavenza. The film also stars Christoph Waltz, Ralph Ineson, Burn Gorman, Felix Kammerer, Lars Mikkelsen, David Bradley, Christian Convery and Charles Dance.
How Long Will Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ Play In Theaters?
In an interview before the film’s world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in August, Guillermo del Toro discussed the film’s upcoming theatrical release with Variety but did not specify how many theaters the film was going to play beginning on Oct. 17.
“Well, we will get the biggest theatrical release that Netflix gives its films. I don’t know the exact number, but it’s three weeks exclusively and then it can stay in theaters longer,” del Toro told Variety.
“And Netflix is also going to release it on physical media, just like they did with [del Toro’s 2022 stop-motion film] Pinocchio,” he added. “The theatrical experience is very important. I believe in it. But if the choice is between being be able to make the movie and have portions of the release be theatrical and portions be streaming or not make the movie, that’s an easy decision to make. For a filmmaker, you want to tell your stories.”
Frankenstein is opening in theaters on Oct. 17 and begins streaming on Netflix on Nov. 7.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/timlammers/2025/09/19/guillermo-del-toros-frankenstein-to-play-in-some-imax-theaters/
