For his next movie, Guillermo del Toro will continue down his own quirky, non-tentpole, post-“Pacific Rim” path a with a movie that has mostly been kept under wraps until now. Earlier this spring, it was reported that Oscar winner Octavia Spencer (“The Help“) and Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins (“Blue Jasmine“) lined up roles in the untitled picture that was only described as a “Cold War romance” (but representatives for the film stress most of the actors are still “in talks”). But this being a del Toro film, there’s much more to it than that.
The official description of the movie is as such: An other-worldly love story, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1963. A mysterious and magical journey from master storyteller Guillermo del Toro.
The latest rumor is that del Toro’s picture, titled “The Shape Of Water,” is set in 1963 and follows a mute janitor (Hawkins) who falls in love with an amphibious man, frees him from captivity with the help of her neighbor (who will reportedly be played by Richard Jenkins), and together they go on the run. Meanwhile, Michael Stuhlbarg is also reportedly in talks for a role. The premise is certainly intriguing, and it’s not a surprise that this is being described as a fairytale, but as “Crimson Peak” proved, del Toro’s genre exercises can be divisive (for the record, I loved that movie). None of this yet confirmed, and reps stress it’s a little early to talk about the film.
Whatever the name of Del Toro’s film is, or what it’s about, it’s set up over at Fox Searchlight, and it sounds like it’s gearing up to shoot soon. [The Tracking Board]