Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein Campaign Grows as Oscar Season Heats Up

Frankenstein, the passion project from Guillermo del Toro, remains at the center of an aggressive Oscar push. As screenings rotate through guild and Academy circles, the director’s team is leaning into celebrity-led post‑screening panels and high-profile endorsements to keep the film top of mind.

Among the fervent advocates, Margot Robbie set the tone at a separate event, calling the project “the magnum opus – the movie you were born to make.” The sentiment underscored a broader display of support from major film figures who are participating in discussions around the film.

Del Toro’s campaign circuit has drawn a notable lineup of participants beyond Robbie. Notables including Bill Hader, Jon Favreau, Jason Reitman, Ava DuVernay, Bradley Cooper, Celine song, Emerald Fennell, and Hideo Kojima have joined in public conversations. In one of the campaign’s larger moments, Martin Scorsese emceed a broader dialog about the film, calling it “a remarkable work” that lingers with audiences and noting his own admiration for the project.

The industry spotlight is nothing new for del Toro. He already sits with Oscar hardware from Netflix’s Pinocchio (best animated Feature, 2022) and from The Shape of Water (Best Picture and Best Director, 2017). Yet Frankenstein remains a working question mark on the nominations front, with recognition still uncertain for Best Writing and Best Directing as awards season unfolds. The film’s presence on Academy lists has become a test case for how a director’s lifelong passion project can translate into nominations, even when a project’s cut doesn’t fit the season’s most obvious categories.

Del Toro recently described the personal toll of the project’s journey. “In the middle of the shoot, and than in releasing the movie, I realized I was entering the most massive postpartum depression,” he said. “It feels overwhelming, and it leaves you without a horizon.” His frank reflection signals the emotional cadence behind a campaign built on deep conviction rather than purely strategic moves. The director added that the creature is not only alive but growing as the project advances.

Beyond one film, the broader Oscar landscape is watching how a director’s lifelong dream interacts with a formal recognition process. The campaign has already demonstrated how star voices and intimate talk can extend a film’s wind span, especially for a project rooted in classic storytelling with modern sensibilities.

Campaign Snapshot

What This Means for Viewers and Voters

The frankenstein campaign illustrates a growing trend in contemporary Oscar culture: using celebrity-driven dialogue and insistent, emotionally candid messaging to keep a film relevant through a crowded season. It blends the director’s lifelong devotion with a strategic network of influential voices, aiming to turn devotion into durable recognition.

Evergreen angles to Watch

Whether Frankenstein secures writing and directing nods may hinge on voters’ appetite for an auteur’s life work realized on screen, paired with a chorus of industry voices praising its ambition and resonance. The approach also highlights how campaigns can elevate genre cinema by foregrounding mood, themes, and the director’s creative journey as vote-influencing factors beyond conventional category campaigns.

Engagement Questions

Do you think this type of celebrity-led campaign helps a film cross the nomination threshold for writing and directing? Which recent campaigns have most effectively translated an artist’s passion into Academy momentum?

Would you attend a post-screening discussion as a potential voter to weigh a film’s merits, or do you prefer the formal avenues of the awards process?

As the season unfolds, the Frankenstein project continues to be a barometer for how much a director’s personal vision-and the people who champion it-can influence the awards conversation. The next several weeks will reveal whether this mix of intimate storytelling and star-powered advocacy translates into nominations and, possibly, wins.

Share your take on the campaign and tell us which moments you’ll be watching as Frankenstein advances through awards season.