Guillermo Del Toro Is Going To Take A Year Break From Directing

Legendary director, Guillermo Del Toro, has revealed that he’s going to take a year break from directing after releasing his latest movie, The Shape of Water.

Guillermo Del Toro is arguably one of the most talented directors working in Hollywood today. He’s shown time and time again how good he really is. From a personal standpoint, I have a vivid memory of watching Pan’s Labyrinth for the first time. It was one of the movies that made me fall in love with cinema and Del Toro’s star has just risen with every movie. His back-catalogue is incredible boasting movies such as The Devil’s Backbone, Cronos, Crimson Peak, Hellboy, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Blade II and Pacific Rim. He’s also produced a lot of brilliant films such as The Orphanage and Andy Muschietti’s Mama, who then went on to make this year’s smash hit, IT. He’s helped write and produce Netflix’s animated series Trollhunters which is well worth watching. He even directed 2 of the show’s episodes.

The release of a new Guillermo Del Toro movie is always a big deal and his upcoming movie looks like a real winner. The Shape of Water is set during the Cold War and tells the tale of how a mute night janitor at a high-security government laboratory called Elisa (Sally Hawkins) discovers and develops a relationship with a secret experiment. The film has been described as a ‘romantic comedy horror’ which sounds like perfect Del Toro material. However, the Mexican director’s revealed during an interview with Collider that he’ll be taking a year break from directing after finishing The Shape of Water. Here’s what he had to say:

“I felt The Shape of Water needed a good six months of undivided attention, to find an audience and to enjoy it, as a human being that made something I’m proud of and happy with. It’s happened to me, in the past. In 2001, with The Devil’s Backbone, which is my second favorite movie I’ve ever done, I was doing Blade 2. Shape is the first, and then Devil’s, and then Pan’s [Labyrinth]. When Devil’s Backbone was touring, I was busy in post-production on Blade 2, and it shouldn’t happen like that. I was so proud of that movie, and I didn’t enjoy it and I didn’t maximize my time with it. Movies are like children. They grow up and they leave you, and they don’t come back home. They go to university and don’t call. So, I wanted to travel with Shape of Water.”

Honestly, that sounds fair enough, and if the early reviews are to be believed, then Del Toro has made a truly magical fairy-tale of a movie in The Shape of Water. It was premiered at this year’s London and Venice Film Festivals and got 5-star reviews from The Telegraph’s Robbie Collin, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Screen International, Indiewire and The Playlist. It sounds like his latest movie will be a real treat.

The Shape of Water will be in UK cinemas on the 16th of February. Are you looking forward to seeing it? Let us know in the comments below.