Netflix is pushing ahead with its adult adaptation of the 2015 novel by Kazuo Ishiguro three years after its was originally announced.
Picture Credit: Getty Images
Guillermo del Toro’s highly anticipated adaptation of The Buried Giant is still moving forward at Netflix, following its initial announcement in 2023. Following the massive success of the Oscar-winning movie Pinocchio and last year’s live-action Frankenstein, the visionary director recently confirmed that his next animated feature is officially gearing up—and it will be a strictly adult, stop-motion epic. Here is our updated 2026 guide to everything we know so far about The Buried Giant.
The project has been confirmed since early 2023, but we recently received a major update on its progress, and thankfully, unlike many other Netflix Animation projects, which tend to just go away quietly, this one remains in active development. In May 2026, while receiving the British Film Institute’s highest honor (the BFI Fellowship) in London, Guillermo del Toro took to the stage to confirm that the gears are officially turning on The Buried Giant.
Front and center was del Toro’s confirmation of the film’s mature tone (via Deadline). He proudly described the upcoming adaptation as a “fascinatingly difficult stop-motion movie for adults” that is being produced “without any concession to a family audience.”
Del Toro is directing the feature and co-writing the script alongside Dennis Kelly, a writer whose impressive resume includes Netflix’s Matilda the Musical, Utopia, and The Third Day. The project forms a core pillar of del Toro’s ongoing overall deal with Netflix, which has already brought us phenomenal hits like Cabinet of Curiositiesand the aforementioned titles, plus indirect titles like the global picking up of I Am Frankelda.
Because this is a sprawling, incredibly complex stop-motion epic, the physical production is being handled meticulously inside animation studios. ShadowMachine—the brilliant stop-motion studio that served as the home base for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio—is returning to handle the animation for The Buried Giant. The studio, established in 1999 and with offices in Portland and Los Angeles, also worked on The Tiny Chef Show, Bojack Horseman, and Long Story Short.
Fans shouldn’t expect a flurry of rapid-fire set photos, however. Stop-motion animation is notoriously painstaking and time-consuming. Del Toro himself made sure to temper expectations regarding the timeline, warning the BFI crowd just how massive the undertaking is: “It’s gonna take us years. And it’s incredibly difficult.”
What is the plot of The Buried Giant?
The Buried Giant artwork
The Buried Giant is an adaptation of the best-selling 2015 fantasy novel by acclaimed author Kazuo Ishiguro, who famously spent a decade “on and off” writing the profound narrative.
Here is the official synopsis for the story:
I”n a fictional, post-Arthurian medieval England, the wars that once raged between the Saxons and the Britons have finally ceased. Axl and Beatrice, an elderly British couple, set off to visit their son, whom they haven’t seen in years. And, because a strange mist has caused mass amnesia throughout the land—preventing anyone from retaining long-term memories—they can scarcely remember anything about him. As they embark on a perilous journey across a landscape full of trolls, fairies, and magic, they are joined by a Saxon warrior, his orphan charge, and an illustrious knight. Together, Axl and Beatrice slowly begin to remember the dark and troubled past they all share.”
During his recent BFI talk, del Toro elaborated on exactly why this specific story had to be told via stop-motion animation, rather than live-action. “If you do a live action movie about an old couple crossing a landscape full of trolls and fairies, and there are special effects and actors… all of a sudden a puppet walks through, it becomes uncanny valley, which is a horrible thing that doesn’t belong in the same world,” he explained. “I want all the creatures to be of the same material.”
Who is cast in The Buried Giant?
For years, the voice cast has remained entirely under wraps. However, during his May 2026 BFI career talk, del Toro finally dropped our first massive casting scoop: Ron Perlman has officially joined the cast in an undisclosed role!
Del Toro is a director who loves to assemble a troupe of frequent, trusted collaborators, and Perlman is undoubtedly at the top of that list. The legendary actor most recently voiced the Podestà in Pinocchio, but the pair’s creative partnership stretches all the way back to del Toro’s 1993 debut feature, Cronos.
As production continues to ramp up, we fully expect to hear more familiar voices from Guillermo del Toro’s universe (such as Cate Blanchett or Doug Jones) join the roster.
What is the Netflix release date for The Buried Giant?
Netflix hasn’t announced an official release date for The Buried Giant.
Given del Toro’s recent confirmation that the animation process will “take years,” it is highly unlikely we will see the film hit our screens anytime soon. If we look at the historical timeline for animated projects of this scale, a release date of 2028 or 2029 seems like the most realistic, educated guess, but there’s a lot that has to go right for that to happen.
We will continue to update this article with all the latest casting news, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and release updates as soon as they break.
Are you looking forward to an exclusively adult stop-motion adventure from Guillermo del Toro? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! For more on Netflix’s upcoming slate of animated movies, keep it locked here on What’s on Netflix.
