It\u2019s aliiiiive,\u00a0and it just screened at Beyond Fest<\/a> at American Cinematheque! On Sunday night, Guillermo del Toro\u2019s \u201cFrankenstein\u201d had a surprise showing at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles. Following a marathon screening of his earlier works (\u201cCronos,\u201d \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Backbone,\u201d and \u201cMimic\u201d), the beloved Mexican filmmaker invited stars Mia Goth and Jacob Elordi to help introduce their new movie to a ravenous genre audience.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were ecstatic,\u201d said Beyond Fest co-founder Christian Parkes in an interview with IndieWire on Monday. Previously shown at the Venice International Film Festival (where IndieWire\u2019s Ryan Lattanzio gave it a \u201cB,\u201d<\/a> and again at a secret screening at Telluride), \u201cFrankenstein\u201d is expected in limited theaters on October 17 and will hit Netflix on November 7.<\/p>\n More from IndieWire<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t know that was happening,\u00a0really happening, until that afternoon,\u201d said Parkes. \u201cThe projectionists didn\u2019t even know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGuillermo making a move the night before and saying, \u2018Hey, I want to show my film!\u2019 \u2014\u00a0that is all him,\u201d said co-founder Grant Moninger. \u201cBut he\u2019s part of the People\u2019s Republic of Beyond Fest by doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFrankenstein\u201d is among the most anticipated horror releases left in 2025, but Beyond Fest organizers didn\u2019t even ask to screen the film. Del Toro offered the West Coast premiere to them the day before during a different block of his retrospective series<\/a> (\u201cCrimson Peak,\u201d \u201cNightmare Alley,\u201d and \u201cThe Shape of Water\u201d also played the Egyptian), and thanks to the American Cinematheque, they pulled it off.<\/p>\n \u201cHe just nonchalantly threw it out to the crowd,\u201d said Parkes. \u201cHe was like, \u2018Let\u2019s just show the movie tomorrow!\u2019 And then it was like, \u2018Oh, yeah, that\u2019s kind of nuts!\u2019 You have to ingest the film and make sure it works. It wasn\u2019t really until six o\u2019clock \u2014\u00a0doors were at seven \u2014\u00a0that we did the tech check and we were like, \u2018OK, this can actually happen.’\u201d<\/p>\n Guillermo del Toro and Oscar Isaac on set for \u2018Frankenstein\u2019\u00a9Netflix\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n Beyond Fest has been around since 2011, but this year\u2019s edition marks unprecedented success for the most popular genre event in Los Angeles. With just two days left, organizers are projecting record attendance with approximately 30,000 festivalgoers coming from across the city and around the world. After a difficult year for Californians, it was an electric homecoming for weirdo cinephiles \u2014\u00a0and a needed outlet for plenty of local film lovers who, as always, got to see many screenings for free.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been gradual growth,\u201d said programmer Evrim Ersoy, who has been with the fest since year two but sat out this year to manage social media from his home in London. \u201cSlowly but surely, we\u2019re building the people\u2019s trust, and these filmmakers are coming to us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Exclusivity can be key to making a movie or event seem \u201ccool,\u201d and the sudden activation of \u201cFrankenstein\u201d was an electric highlight this weekend. But while other genre promoters jockey for access, Beyond Fest insists they don\u2019t worry about premiere status. The \u201cpipe dream\u201d event got started on a fake-it-til-you-make-it mentality 14 years ago, and organizers have kept the faith ever since.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like, who cares? We\u2019ll have studios that come to us and say, \u2018Look, we\u2019re going to go big with you in L.A., but we have opportunities elsewhere,’\u201d said Parkes. \u201cMy response is always, \u2018Is going elsewhere going to help your film? Then go do it!\u2019 Because the people that come to our theater on a Friday night, they want to see the film. They\u2019re not coming because it has to be the premiere.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond Fest is dedicated to expanding how the movie business defines \u201cgenre\u201d in a city that,\u00a0no matter how the rest of the industry fares, still owns awards season. Del Toro\u2019s \u201cFrankenstein\u201d has been compared to Robert Eggers\u2019 \u201cNosferatu,\u201d and early spectators for next year\u2019s Oscars race could see this premiere as a step on that path.<\/p>\n Guillermo del Toro and Mia Goth for \u2018Frankenstein\u2019 at Beyond Fest at American CinemathequePhotographer Jared Cowan for Beyond Fest<\/p>\n Straddling the divide between fan-facing genre events, like Fantasia Fest in Montreal<\/a>, and the more prestige international festivals that are always along the path to the Academy Awards, Beyond is bridging a critical divide by commingling the best of the best genre programming \u2014\u00a0across horror, arthouse, anime, and more \u2014\u00a0with the fervent excitement of attendees who celebrate it all like a midnight movie<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve never paid to advertise,\u201d said Moninger. \u201cThere\u2019s such a love of these films, and it\u2019s a rabid audience. That\u2019s why it grows to 16 days every year. It\u2019s like, \u2018Maybe we\u2019ll do nine!\u2019 \u2014\u00a0or, \u2018Maybe we\u2019ll do eight!\u2019 And it always ends up being 16. We want to make sure everyone can go see something.\u201d<\/p>\n From the first 70mm print of Brady Corbet\u2019s \u201cThe Brutalist,\u201d to the West Coast premiere of Bong Joon Ho\u2019s \u201cParasite,\u201d Beyond Fest at American Cinematheque programming has organically turned into an \u201coverarching umbrella, where all of these films can live through their connective genre tissue,\u201d said Parkes. \u201cTime and time again, filmmakers after their screening, they thank us and they say, \u2018That\u2019s exactly who I made my film for.’\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had a second screen for a long time,\u201d said Ersoy \u2014\u00a0shouting out Beyond Fest at American Cinemtheque\u2019s shorts programming as well. \u201cIt\u2019s always been about highlighting films that people wouldn\u2019t normally take a chance on. Everyone\u2019s heard del Toro\u2019s \u2018Frankenstein\u2019 is coming, but maybe this helped them find something else. We showed this anime that\u2019s coming along, \u2018100 Meters<\/a>,\u2019 that\u2019s absolutely stunning.\u201c<\/p>\n Beyond boasted the West Coast premiere of Best Picture winner \u201cAnora\u201d last year, and Sean Baker<\/a> was back to host a chat with the legendary Japanese actress Meiko Kaji (\u201cLady Snowblood,\u201d \u201cBlind Woman\u2019s Curse\u201d) for her first-ever U.S. appearance in 2025. With the reigning Best Director winner practically popping in just to say hi \u2014\u00a0and del Toro across town literally tossing out \u201cFrankenstein\u201d t-shirts \u2014\u00a0Beyond Fest at American Cinematheque has established itself as an award-worthy monster maker capable of winning the fight too many genre lovers feared was finished when \u201cThe Substance\u201d lost<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI look forward to the day when someone else can take this mantle so that we can sleep,\u201d said Parkes. \u201cUntil then, we\u2019ll just keep doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n Best of IndieWire<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Indiewire’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source uk.news.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s aliiiiive,\u00a0and it just screened at Beyond Fest at American Cinematheque! On Sunday night, Guillermo del Toro\u2019s \u201cFrankenstein\u201d had a surprise showing at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles. Following a marathon screening of his earlier works (\u201cCronos,\u201d \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Backbone,\u201d and \u201cMimic\u201d), the beloved Mexican filmmaker invited stars Mia Goth and Jacob Elordi to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2073831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[388966,388967,350935,358130,336192,103955,157636,340758,388968],"class_list":["post-2073830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-american-cinematheque","tag-christian-parkes","tag-del-toro","tag-fest-organizers","tag-frankenstein","tag-guillermo-del-toro","tag-indiewire","tag-mia-goth","tag-west-coast-premiere"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/How-Beyond-Fest-Locked-Guillermo-del-Toros-\u2018Frankenstein-\u2014-with.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2073830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2073830"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2073830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2073832,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2073830\/revisions\/2073832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2073831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2073830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2073830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2073830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/span><\/div>\n
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