Scott Cooper reveals that he wouldn't have worked on Antlers without Guillermo del Toro. The premise of Antlers focuses on the mythological creature known as the Wendigo, which originating from Native American folklore. Kerri Russell stars in the film as a teacher who finds out that one of her students is keeping the supernatural creature in his home.
Cooper is a relatively new director, with only four directing credits to his name (not including Antlers). Cooper started his directing career off on a high note with his film Crazy Heart scoring two Oscars at the 82nd Academy Awards. While his other films, Out of the Furnace, Black Mass, and Hostiles, are all dramas, Cooper is stepping into new territory with Antlers. This is the first horror film Cooper has directed, but he had del Toro to help him along the way.
During the Comic-Con@Home panel for Antlers Collider sat down with Cooper and del Toro to talk about their upcoming film. During the interview, Cooper explained how much del Toro's directing background benefited the film. He reiterated how del Toro understood what he was going through and also made himself available for Cooper with any questions that may have come up during the shooting and editing of Antlers. Cooper expressed that there's no one better when it comes to designing creatures, which is when Cooper revealed he only agreed to direct Antlers if del Toro was involved.
While Cooper has proven himself as a director, del Toro has obviously been around a bit longer. Del Toro has won two Oscars in his career and his films are known for their intricate and often terrifying creatures. The award-winning film The Shape of Water is the most recent film he directed, but del Toro has been attached to a handful of projects since 2017 as a producer. While Antlers may not be directed by del Toro, Cooper made it clear in his interview how much influence a producer can have over a movie. In the case of Antlers, it sounds like del Toro was extremely hands-on with the film and heavily involved in the creative process.
Cooper obviously had creative control over his film, but having del Toro's name attached to Antlers will certainly help it succeed. Many people are going to be seeing Antlers specifically to see the Wendigo, which will no doubt have benefited from del Toro's input given his past success with creature features. In short, having an award-winning director helming the film with a producer of del Toro's caliber at his side gives Antlers the potential to be one of the most intriguing, and bone-chilling, horror films of 2021.
Source: Comic-Con@Home
