As Guillermo Del Toro brings Pan’s Labyrinth back to theaters 20 years later, he’s sticking to tried-and-true restoration techniques.
During Friday’s Hall H panel for the movie’s milestone anniversary at San Diego Comic-Con, the 3x Oscar winner reinforced his stance on using “absolutely no goddamn AI” in the 3D re-release, which premieres Oct. 9 in theaters.
“I said, ‘Absolutely no goddamn AI,’” said Del Toro to applause. “It’s much more expensive. I don’t care. The thing is, what we’re protecting is the beauty and the redeeming power of art.”
Del Toro’s latest comments come after he has frequently denounced generative AI, saying last year that he’d “rather die” than use it in his filmmaking. “Fuck AI!” he has declared on more than one occasion.
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At Friday’s panel, the Mexican auteur also recalled the crew of Pan’s Labyrinth not initially understanding his wild vision of a dark fantasy set during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-’39.
“We had a lot of adversity in the movie,” said Del Toro. “And a lot of the crew was very skeptical. They would see a faun come in in the middle of a civil war movie, and they would say, ‘This fucker is crazy.’ But I remember the first time I knew, we were shooting the Pale Man.”
Re-enacting the Pale Man’s now iconic moment of holding up his own eyes in his hands to see, Del Toro noted that was the moment the crew was on board with his vision. “I said, ‘Ah, see?’” he recalled.
On Oct. 9, Pan’s Labyrinth will be presented theatrically for the first time by Cineverse and Fathom in 4K, with versions available in both 3D and HDR by Barco.