Guillermo del Toro has long been a champion of crafts that many in Hollywood have written off as fading. His stop-motion Pinocchio proved that patient, hand-built filmmaking still has an audience, and it made him a natural torchbearer for artists who oppose the use of AI in film. While plenty of voices across the industry have spoken out against the technology, del Toro has now put his stance into practice.

With Pan's Labyrinth returning to theaters in 4K and 3D, he says more than 1,300 artists worked on the restoration and conversion. 

While Christopher Nolan is known for the sheer scale of his films and Alfred Hitchcock is remembered as the master of suspense, Guillermo del Toro has built a reputation as a filmmaker devoted to preserving the handmade magic of cinema. And the most recent account of this is the re-release of his iconic 2006 movie Pan's Labyrinth.

"I dare say that more than 1,300 people worked on it," Guillermo del Toro revealed when asked about the work that went behind it.

As per Guillermo del Toro's statement revealed by Discussing Film, the upcoming release of Pan's Labyrinth on its 20th anniversary is not just a simple re-run of the movie in theaters but the 4K restoration and 3D re-release in select theaters. The re-release of the Oscar-winning movie will be in cinemas on October 9, and it remains to be seen whether it will match its previous box office collection.

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While Pan's Labyrinth is very on par with Guillermo del Toro's usual masterful work, the director is leaping with his upcoming project, Fury.

Fury stands apart from the rest of Guillermo del Toro's slate in both tone and premise. The film was first mentioned at the Toronto International Film Festival, where del Toro said he was writing it for his Frankenstein star, Oscar Isaac.

"Like My Dinner with Andre but [with] killing people after each course," Guillermo del Toro told the TIFF audience about how violent the project is going to be.

Given that del Toro is known for elevating a story on the page with striking direction and richly built worlds, the look of Fury is sure to draw attention. His recent work sets a high bar. Frankenstein, with its elaborate gothic sets, won the Oscar for Best Production Design, and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio brought its fairy-tale world to life through stop-motion animation. With Pan's Labyrinth returning in a hand-crafted restoration and Fury on the horizon, del Toro's latest projects show a filmmaker keeping human craftsmanship at the center of his work.

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What do you think about Guillermo del Toro's revelation? Let us know in the comments.