The Criterion Collection has set October 27 as the release date for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD. The set will include both the theatrical version of the film and a new extended cut, according to World of Reel.
What the Reborn Cut adds
The new cut, titled Frankenstein: The Reborn Cut, runs 158 minutes, eight minutes longer than the film’s 150-minute theatrical version. Del Toro has spoken in past interviews about a seven-minute sequence he removed from the film at James Cameron’s suggestion, and several outlets covering the announcement, including JoBlo, have speculated that footage may be part of what’s been restored. Criterion hasn’t confirmed exactly which scenes make up the additional runtime.
What’s in the set
Buyers will have a choice of formats: a four-disc 4K UHD and Blu-ray edition, a two-disc Blu-ray set, or a three-disc DVD release, according to Rue Morgue. Both cuts of the film come with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Bonus features include a new commentary track from del Toro recorded specifically for the Reborn Cut, a making-of documentary called The Anatomy Lesson: Director’s Cut, and a separate feature titled The Parlour, which gathers craft-focused conversations with del Toro and cast members Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, and Mia Goth, along with cinematographer Dan Laustsen, production designer Tamara Deverell, costume designer Kate Hawley, and creature designer Mike Hill. The release also includes Q&A sessions moderated by Martin Scorsese and Patti Smith, an interview with composer Alexandre Desplat, and a printed essay by scholar Christopher Frayling, according to Media Play News.
A passion project that paid off
Del Toro has said he fell in love with Mary Shelley’s novel as a child, after first encountering the story through James Whale’s 1931 film adaptation. His own version, which stars Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Elordi as the Creature, alongside Goth and Christoph Waltz, reframes the material around the relationship between fathers and sons and the difficulty of breaking cycles of trauma, according to UPI. The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in 2025, had a limited theatrical run that October, and moved to Netflix on November 7, where it drew 29.1 million views in a single week, topping the platform’s global charts. It picked up nine Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, and won three: Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Production Design.
A familiar home for del Toro
This marks Criterion’s seventh release of a del Toro film, following Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, Nightmare Alley, and Pinocchio. Netflix, which financed and distributed Frankenstein, rarely allows its original films a physical media release at all, making this an exception to that pattern, according to The Playlist.
Part of a bigger October slate
Frankenstein closes out a horror-leaning month for Criterion. The label’s October releases also include a 4K restoration of Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs on October 20, Jerzy Skolimowski’s The Shout, Ngozi Onwurah’s Welcome II the Terrordome on October 6, and The Complete Kubrick, a 30-disc box set collecting Stanley Kubrick’s entire filmography, also arriving October 20, according to Empire.
