Noted hot guy Jacob Elordi — who looks like what would happen if you stretched Timothee Chalamet out in a funhouse mirror (not that we’re saying that’s a bad thing! He’s a handsome man!) — has signed on to play the Monster in Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein, which is gearing up to shoot soon-ish for Netflix. According to Deadline, he’ll be a part of an ensemble cast featuring the likes of Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz, Felix Kammerer (from All Quiet on the Western Front), Lars Mikkelsen (Star Wars: Ahsoka), David Bradley, Christian Convery, and the one-and-only Oscar Issac as the mad scientist, the rightful title character upon whom Mary Shelley’s tale centers on. Elordi’s also replacing Andrew Garfield in the role, who had to quit due to strike-related scheduling conflicts. Bummer.
Two things to ponder: First, it seems that Del Toro is really hitting his Great American Songbook period, where he’s returning to classic standards as he hits the likely third act of his career. Each of his features, after winning Best Picture for The Shape of Water back in 2018, has been an adaptation of some sort (Nightmare Alley, Pinocchio), and we can’t help but be a little bummed by this, as excited as we are to see his take on this classic (it’ll definitely be better than Branagh’s, that’s for sure). Del Toro has an uncanny ability to creatively interpret oftentimes tired genres and wake them the fuck up for a new audience, and we’re missing that just a little bit.
Second, is there a young up-and-coming star who hasn’t been a son to Oscar Isaac at this point? We’re trying to come up with names, and all we’re really hitting on is Elordi’s Saltburn co-star Barry Keoghan, though that could always change in the next couple of months. And there will definitely be a ton of time for him to play the patriarch for whatever star-in-the-making lies in wait because who knows when Frankenstein will actually come out. Our money is on 2025 at the earliest.