Guillermo del Toro is a Mexican director, screenwriter, producer, author, and former special effects makeup artist whose romantic dark fantasy film “The Shape of Water” won “Best Picture” at the 90th Academy Awards and earned him “Best Director.” It was not his first Oscar-winning film, as the film received a total of thirteen nominations and won two additional accolades. He previously won three Oscars for ‘Pan’s Labyrinth,’ another of his somber fantasy films. All of his other notable films, including ‘Cronos,’ ‘The Devil’s Backbone,’ ‘Blade II,’ ‘Hellboy,’ and ‘Pacific Rim,’ have grim fantasy or horror themes. Together with Chuck Hogan, he is the co-author of ‘The Strain book trilogy and television series. He is also attributed with co-writing ‘The Hobbit trilogy. Before becoming a director, he spent ten years as a special-effects makeup artist. Together, he and two other prominent Mexican filmmakers, Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro G. Iárritu, are known as “The Three Amigos of Cinema.”
Youth and Early Life
Guillermo del Toro Gómez was born on October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, to automotive entrepreneur Federico del Toro Torres and Guadalupe Gómez. His Catholic upbringing, which he characterized as “morbid,” made him intolerant of authoritarianism, he said.
Since the age of eight, he has been interested in creating short dark fantasy films using Planet of the Apes toys and his father’s Super 8 camera. He produced approximately ten short films before graduating high school. Later, he attended Guadalajara’s Centro de Investigación y Estudios Cinematográficos, from which he graduated in 1983.
Guillermo Toro’s Career
Guillermo del Toro launched his filmmaking career in 1993 with the Spanish-language Mexican horror drama film Cronos, starring Federico Luppi and Ron Perlman and depicting the transformation of an antique shopkeeper into a vampire. It was chosen as the Mexican entry for the ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ category at the 66th Academy Awards, despite not receiving a nomination.
In 1997, Miramax Films provided him with a $30 million budget for his next directorial effort, ‘Mimic,’ an American science fiction horror film in which New York City is overrun by monstrous insects. While his relationship with Miramax soured during the film’s production and he was unable to procure a final cut, he released a director’s cut version of the film in 2011.
Following his failure in Hollywood, he returned to Spain to direct the 2001 Spanish-language gothic horror film The Devil’s Backbone, set in the final year of the Spanish Civil War. The film, on which he collaborated with Federico Luppi once more, was well-received by critics and audiences upon its release.
For his next film, Blade II (2002), he maintained the horror and supernatural motifs but wrapped them around the titular hybrid human-vampire comic book superhero. Wesley Snipes reprised his role from the 1998 film Blade for the sequel, which was a box office success and received positive to divided reviews from critics.
In 2004, he collaborated with Ron Perlman on another supernatural comic-book adaptation, this time based on a Dark Horse Comics graphic novel and featuring the demon-turned-superhero Hellboy. The critically acclaimed and commercially successful film prompted him to write and direct the 2008 sequel “Hellboy II: The Golden Army.”
Del Toro returned to the Spanish Civil War setting between the two Hellboy films to write, produce, and direct the Spanish-language dark fantasy drama Pan’s Labyrinth. (2006). The film opened to widespread critical acclaim and received numerous international accolades, including three ‘Oscars’ and three ‘BAFTAs’. Its parable-like narrative and themes reminiscent of ‘The Devil’s Backbone’ evoked comparisons.
Peter Jackson appointed him in April 2008 to direct the live-action film trilogy based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit,’ but the project was delayed due to MGM’s financial difficulties. While he departed the project in May 2010, he was still credited as a co-author for the series’ first three installments.
In 2009, Guillermo del Toro published ‘The Strain,’ a vampire horror novel he co-wrote with Chuck Hogan, which produced two sequels, ‘The Fall (2010) and ‘The Night Eternal.’ (2011). In 2014, he directed the inaugural episode of a successful four-season FX television series based on the trilogy.
In 2013, he directed the science-fiction action film Pacific Rim, which he co-wrote the screenplay for with Travis Beacham. Pacific Rim is a film about enormous monsters and giant mecha suits called Jaegers. The film, which starred Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, and Rinko Kikuchi in leading roles, was well-received by both fans and critics and was his most commercially successful effort.
His next film was the gothic horror film Crimson Peak, which he co-wrote with Matthew Robbins and Lucinda Cox and starred Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, and Charlie Hunnam. The film was released in October 2015, during the Halloween season, to largely favorable reviews.
In August 2016, he spent three weeks in Toronto filming the Cold War drama ‘The Shape of Water’ alongside Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, and Michael Shannon. The film was released in August of 2017 and was a critical and commercial success, garnering him four ‘Oscars’, including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’.
2009 at the D23 Expo, his production company and Disney jointly announced the original animated project ‘Trollhunters,’ which he ultimately transferred to DreamWorks in late 2010. The first season of the show, which premiered globally on Netflix on December 23, 2016, became the most-watched kids’ original in the history of the streaming service and is regarded as one of the greatest children’s animated series.
Toro’s Major Opera
The two films ‘The Devil’s Backbone and ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ set against the backdrop of Francisco Franco’s Spain are among Guillermo del Toro’s most critically acclaimed works. The international success of ‘Pan’s Labyrinth,’ which grossed $80 million worldwide, made it one of the highest-grossing foreign films in the United States.
“The Shape of Water” is his most acclaimed film, grossing nearly $195 million worldwide on a budget of $19.5 million. It was nominated for thirteen Academy Awards and won four, in addition to numerous other honors, including two Golden Globes and three BAFTAs.
Personal History and Legacy
During their time at the Instituto de Ciencias in Guadalajara, Guillermo del Toro began dating Lorenza Newton, the cousin of Mexican vocalist Guadalupe Pineda. After getting married and having two children, the couple divorced in September 2017.
His father was abducted in Guadalajara in 1997, and he paid the ransom with the assistance of his filmmaker friend James Cameron. Although his father was released 72 days after being abducted, the kidnappers were never apprehended, and the family was eventually forced to relocate abroad.
Estimated Net Worth
Mexican director and producer Guillermo del Toro has a net worth of $40 million. Del Toro is best known for directing a number of Academy Award-winning fantasy films, including “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “The Shape of Water.”
Trivia
After Guillermo del Toro was mistreated by Miramax, his friend James Cameron nearly got into a fight with Miramax co-founder and proprietor Harvey Weinstein at the 70th Academy Awards.