Fox names James McAvoy, Daniel Radcliffe film ‘Victor Frankenstein,’ new details emerge
Fox’s latest adaptation of Frankenstein is undergoing even more changes, a new title and a new perspective. The film, now titled Victor Frankenstein, still stars James McAvoy (X-Men) as the famous doctor and Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) as Igor, his hunchbacked lab assistant, but the film will take a different approach.
Here’s what Fox released, via EW on the film being from Igor’s perspective and serves as a prequel of sorts.
“James McAvoy is Victor Von Frankenstein and Daniel Radcliffe stars as Igor in a unique, never-before-seen twist on Mary Shelley’s classic 19th century novel. Told from Igor’s perspective, we see the troubled young assistant’s dark origins, his redemptive friendship with the young medical student Victor Von Frankenstein, and become eyewitnesses to the emergence of how Frankenstein became the man—and the legend—we know today.”
Shelley’s tale is in public domain and omits Igor from the original pages, so creative liberty is inevitable. Paul McGuigan (Wicker Park) is directing the film from a Max Landis (Chronicle) script.
So to recap, the new remake of Frankenstein is actually a prequel about Igor, but will be titled Victor Frankenstein.
The AV Club writes that it’s an “origin story—because of course it is—that tells how Igor first befriended the plucky young Frankenstein when he was just a cheery medical student who hadn’t yet embarked on a quest to personally offend God. Along the way, he’ll witness ‘how Frankenstein became the man—and the legend—we know today.'”
Radcliffe spoke about the film, confirmed a “hump” for Igor after set photos revealed otherwise, saying “It’s like Max Landis has sewn together the dead corpses of other Frankenstein films, books and mythologies to make this…Igor gets a backstory, which we’ve never seen before, and the relationship between him and Dr. Frankenstein is more level. A lot of it is just Victor going insane and me trying to drag him back from the edge. But, yeah, it’s a really good dark adventure movie.”
Sherlock star Andrew Scott plays Roderick while Downton Abbey star Jessica Brown Findlay stars as Lorelei in
Victor Frankenstein opens in theaters October 2, 2015.