Guillermo del Toro decided to take a year-long break from directing because he wanted to "travel with ‘Shape of Water’".
The 53-year-old movie-maker recently revealed he intends to take a break from the industry following the release of his latest fantasy film, and Guillermo has now revealed the thinking behind the move.
He shared: "I felt ‘The Shape of Water’ needed a good six months of undivided attention, to find an audience and to enjoy it, as a human being that made something I’m proud of and happy with. It’s happened to me, in the past.
"In 2001, with ‘The Devil’s Backbone’, which is my second favourite movie I’ve ever done, I was doing ‘Blade 2’. ‘Shape’ is the first, and then ‘Devil’s, and then ‘Pan’s [Labyrinth]’. When ‘Devil’s Backbone’ was touring, I was busy in post-production on ‘Blade 2’, and it shouldn’t happen like that. I was so proud of that movie, and I didn’t enjoy it and I didn’t maximise my time with it.
"Movies are like children. They grow up and they leave you, and they don’t come back home. They go to university and don’t call. So, I wanted to travel with ‘Shape of Water’."
Guillermo also revealed that despite taking his break from the industry, he still intends to helm the remake of the ‘Fantastic Voyage’ for 20th Century Fox.
Speaking to Collider, he explained: "I announced the year in September, and if everything goes well and it happens, it would happen next September.
"We’d start prepping again. We had already delayed it. It is a very difficult movie, technically, and I needed to figure out a bunch of stuff.
"We’ve been doing R&D and we’ve been building stuff. I never know whether they’re going to happen or not. I’ve learned that, in 25 years. But, we’re still working on it."
Guillermo del Toro reveals his reasons for taking a year-long break
