Guillermo Del Toro Interested In Adapting These 3 H.P. Lovecraft Stories

Published Sep 20, 2026, 8:47 AM EDT

Hannah Gearan (she/her) is has been writing for ScreenRant for over three years. Her deep cinema love traces back to age 11, when she equipped herself with a spiral-bound notebook, rated all the films she watched, and declared herself a critic. About a decade later, she received a BA from Wesleyan University, where she studied Film, Environmental Studies, and Writing. Hannah’s short film, Toxic Faucets, has screened at numerous film festivals, including the Independent Film Festival of Boston (IFFBoston). As a Movie News writer now, she draws upon her vast experience studying, making, and analyzing film as she approaches dynamic breaking stories. 

Guillermo del Toro has set his sight on H.P. Lovecraft tales.

The director has become one of the most beloved of his time. Ever since his Spanish-language breakout hit Pan's Labyrinth, del Toro has been on the industry's radar globally as one of the most definitive voices working in cinema today. His work has gotten several Oscar nominations and wins, including the Best Picture-winning The Shape of Water and last year's much-nominated adaptation of Frankenstein. Audiences always have a vested interest in what del Toro is up to next.

In Ask-Me-Anything Reddit thread, del Toro revealed which Lovecraft stories he would most like to adapt. The director responded to a comment that asked "Other than "At the Mountains of Madness", what's a Lovecraft story you'd love to adapt for the big screen?". The Frankenstein director answered thoughtfully by saying that length was important with these stories. While At the Mountains of Madness is the only one he'd like to see as a feature, del Toro is also interested in adapting The Thing on the Threshold, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and The Outsider. Check out his full quote below:

Most of his stories, by virtue of their length, are better adapted to one-hour television programs or 30-minute television programs. I would love to adapt The Thing On the Threshold, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, or The Outsider, which is a horror story that is point of view until the final image. Those are the ones that scared me the most or disturbed me the most. At The Mountains is the only one, I think, that is a full feature.

But I think it's hard to adapt Lovecraft, because he uses adjectives that are very open. So you’ve got to codirect, so to speak, every image. And when you make them into film, they become very precise. To me, the best adaptation of Lovecraft is Ridley Scott’s Alien, which is basically Mountains of Madness. Second-best adaptation for me is The Thing. I know it's not Lovecraft, but it's very Lovecraftian in its makeup effects language. I love In the Mouth of Madness. I love Stuart Gordon’s Dagon. I love The Resurrected by Dan O’Bannon. It's full of craziness. There are a few movies that have been done in the right way.

In characteristically humble del Toro fashion, the director admitted that Lovecraft is one of the harder authors to adapt. He analyzes this challenge poetically, explaining that the horror-fantasy author "uses adjectives that are very open" meaning that as a filmmaker, "you've got to codirect, so to speak, every image." He then explained some movies that he found the most Lovecraftian without being direct Lovecraft adaptations, like Alien and The Thing.

Despite his deference to Lovecraft's work, del Toro's humility should not be taken to mean he's not up for the task. Adapting Mary Shelley's beloved Frankenstein is no less of a Herculean fate — but del Toro did so to the tune of an 85% Tomatometer, three Oscar wins, and nine overall Oscar nominations. Before that, he directed what is now arguably the most revered adaptation of Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio, as Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio brought home an Oscar win for Best Animated Feature and gave the world one of the best animated films of the decade so far.

All of that is to say, if there is anyone that can do Lovecraft justice, it is Guillermo del Toro. From his Reddit statement, the director is clearly invested enough in the author's work to have a deep understanding of it —and to honor the run-time of adaptation for which these works are best suited. As a cinephile himself, he has a plethora of Lovecraftian cinematic references to aspire towards were he to venture into the author's world.