Guillermo del Toro’s newest project, Nightmare Alley, has safely wrapped production in Toronto. After secretly starting shooting in January, the team canceled filming right before the industry shutdown in response to the pandemic in March. Based on a novel by William Lindsay Gresham, Nightmare Alley is a psychological thriller that explores the dark side of show business and was first adapted for the silver screen in 1947. Del Toro’s recreation is accompanied by a star-studded cast including Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, and Toni Collette.
On her Instagram, Nightmare Alley’s co-screenwriter Kim Morgan revealed that the film’s production wrapped on Saturday. Even though filming has ended, Disney-owned distributor Searchlight Pictures has not disclosed the film’s release date yet. Over the summer, Guillermo del Toro spoke to Indiewire about the film’s cancellation of shooting, saying,
“We stopped the shoot a week before [the industry shut down]. We reacted super fast, we proposed the studio to stop as opposed to being asked to stop. That saved us. Nobody to my knowledge in the cast or the crew got coronavirus. We were roughly 45 percent in. We were literally in the middle of a great scene. We went to lunch and talked to the studio and when we came back we said, ‘Everybody leave your tools and leave now.’”
Nightmare Alley follows a determined performer who’s skillfully able to manipulate people. However, his life is put in danger after an encounter with a psychiatrist who happens to be even more deadly. Del Toro is known for his propensity to juggle multiple projects simultaneously. While not filming Nightmare Alley, del Toro was finishing up his upcoming feature film Pinnochio. As many productions have struggled to handle health concerns, del Toro and the Nightmare Alley team are of a lucky few that have been able to manage the pandemic appropriately without sacrificing the production dramatically.
Source: Kim Morgan/Indiewire