15 Things You Need To Know Before Watching ''The Shape Of Water'' By Guillermo Del Toro

Guillermo del Toro left Pacific Rim: Uprising for this film. It was worth it.

1. Guillermo del Toro was inspired by the classic horror movie Creature From the Black Lagoon.

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He saw the film as a child and was deeply moved by it.

2. In fact, at one point, del Toro wanted to work on a remake of Creature From the Black Lagoon.

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He went to a Universal Pictures studios and pitched an updated version of the film with the creature and the protagonist ending up together. Executives at the studio turned down his idea.

3. Del Toro began working on The Shape of Water in 2011.

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The idea came to him during breakfast with author Daniel Kraus (with whom del Toro wrote Trollhunters).

4. Originally, the movie was going to be shot in black and white, but ended up being shot in color for budget reasons.

20th Century Fox

The studio told the Mexican filmmaker that filming in black and white would only justify a budget of $16.5 million, whereas he'd get $19.5 million for a color film.

5. Guillermo invested $200,000 of his own money to make the movie.

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He started working on the script and designing the creature before taking it to any studios.

6. During his first meeting with Fox Searchlight, everyone ended up crying.

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The filmmaker showed the team sketches and designs, and even ended up reading them parts of the script. After he was finished, the executives at the studio were so moved that they broke down in tears.

7. The production was riddled with issues.

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Accidents, strong winds, and subzero temperatures made shooting the film a true challenge.

8. Doug Jones, who plays the sea creature, has played a water creature for del Toro in the past.

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Jones has appeared in several del Toro movies, including Mimic, Crimson Peak, Pan's Labyrinth, and Hellboy, in which he plays Abraham Sapien, an amphibian man.

9. Del Toro gave up directing Pacific Rim: Uprising in order to dedicate his time and attention to The Shape of Water.

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He had been working on the sequel for years when he gave up directing control. In the end, he decided to stay on as a producer and handed the director's duties over to Steven S. DeKnight.

10. Fellow filmmakers Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro Iñárritu are the ones who convinced del Toro to switch projects.

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After the production of Pacific Rim: Uprising was delayed, the two directors approached del Toro and convinced him to leave it aside and focus on his romantic monster movie instead.

11. They also introduced him to the film's star, Sally Hawkins.

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Guillermo del Toro actually wrote the script with Sally Hawkins in mind, but had never met her. During the 2014 Golden Globes, del Toro was invited to an after-party by Iñárritu and Cuarón. Apparently, he got drunk and decided to leave, but ran into Hawkins on the way out and pitched the idea to her. According to del Toro, he never would have had the courage to ask her if he hadn't been drunk.

12. The Shape of Water got the most nominations of any movie at the 2018 Golden Globes.

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Seven to be exact.

13. And it's already a favorite to win many more awards during the 2018 awards season.

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So far, it's been nominated for 150 awards and festival prizes around the world.

14. Among them, the Golden Lion — the most notable award at the prestigious Venice Film Festival.

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It's the first time a Mexican director has ever won the award. Guillermo, always winning.

15. The Shape of Water is in theaters now. You can watch the trailer here:

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This post was translated from Spanish.