Age: 61
male
Guillermo del Toro Gómez (Spanish: [ɡiˈʝeɾmo ðelˈtoɾo]; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, gothicism, and horror, often blending the genres to infuse visual or poetic beauty into the grotesque. He has had a lifelong fascination with monsters, which he considers symbols of great power. He is known for pioneering dark fantasy in the film industry and using insectile and religious imagery, his themes of Catholicism, and celebrating imperfection, underworld motifs, practical special effects, and dominant amber lighting. Throughout his career, del Toro has shifted between Spanish-language films—such as Cronos (1993), The Devil's Backbone (2001), and Pan's Labyrinth (2006)—and English-language films, including Mimic (1997), Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and its sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army(2008), Pacific Rim (2013), Crimson Peak (2015), The Shape of Water (2017), Nightmare Alley (2021), and Pinocchio (2022). As a producer or writer, he worked on the films The Orphanage (2007), Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010), The Hobbit film series (2012–2014), Mama (2013), The Book of Life (2014), Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018), Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019), and The Witches (2020). In 2022, he created the Netflix anthology horror series Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, featuring a collection of classical horror stories. With Chuck Hogan, he co-authored The Strain trilogy of novels (2009–2011), which was later adapted into a comic book series (2011–15) and a live-action television series (2014–17). With DreamWorks Animation and Netflix, he created the animated franchise Tales of Arcadia, which includes the series Trollhunters (2016–18), 3Below (2018–19), and Wizards (2020) and the sequel film Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (2021). Del Toro is close friends with fellow Mexican filmmakers Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro G. Iñárritu, collectively known as "The Three Amigos of Mexican Cinema". He has received several awards, including three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Daytime Emmy Award, and a Golden Lion. He was included in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018, and he received a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019.
Mortal Kombat Chapter I is a 2024 American fantasy film based on the video game series Mortal Kombat. It is the first installment in the Mortal Kombat Cinematic Universe. Directed by James Wan, produced by Ed Boon, and written by Guillermo del Toro, the film stars Keanu Reeves in the lead role, alongside Mila Kunis, Jimmy Wong, Donnie Yen, Zachary Quinto, Margot Robbie, Scott Adkins, Chris Evans, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jackie Chan, Donald Glover, Ken Watanabe, Hulk Hogan, and Dave Bautista. It is set during the present time, where Raiden and his team are invited to a tournament known as Mortal Kombat, and Raiden is convinced that Liu Kang is the chosen one and must defeat Shang Tsung. Raiden is very furious once he realizes that he is wrong as his amulet becomes increasingly damaged. Mortal Kombat Chapter I was released on March 19th 2024; it was a box-office success, grossing $716 million worldwide. The film was met with largely positive reviews, with praise for the tone, Reeves's performance, action sequences, visual effects, score, direction, screenplay, and the emotional weight compared to previous Mortal Kombat films. Its respect to the source material was also well-received. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, and has been cited as one of the greatest and most influential game adaptions of the 2020s. A sequel entitled Mortal Kombat Chapter II: The Rise of Shinnok is in development.
