Guillermo del Toro, the Mexican filmmaker behind the 2006 masterpiece El laberinto del fauno (Pan's Labyrinth), has confirmed that a restored version of the film will return to cinemas in October 2026 to mark its 20th anniversary. The announcement came during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con, where del Toro stressed that the restoration was carried out entirely by hand, without any use of artificial intelligence.
“Obviously, I said, ‘Absolutely no goddamn AI,’” del Toro told the audience, drawing cheers. The director, who has previously described AI as capable of producing only “semi-compelling screensavers,” oversaw the conversion of the film into 3D manually. “You have to put in time. You have to do every element by hand. A human made a decision of depth,” he explained.
Set in Francoist Spain in 1944, Pan's Labyrinth weaves a dark fairy tale around a young girl, Ofelia, who escapes the brutality of her stepfather, a fascist captain, into a mythical underworld. The film won three Oscars, the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language, and seven Goya Awards, cementing its place as one of del Toro's most celebrated works.
Defending the Lineage of Art
Del Toro's stance on AI is rooted in a broader concern for the future of craftsmanship. “What we’re protecting is the beauty and the redeeming power of art,” he said. “It’s not about who gets the job. We are protecting a lineage of art. If we cut a generation of people from learning their craft, you’re cutting the rest of the history of that medium away from them for what?”
This is not the first time the director has spoken out against the technology. At the Lumière Film Festival in 2024, where he presented his film Frankenstein, del Toro decried AI's encroachment into cinema. “We live in dangerous times – times when we’re ashamed of our emotions, in which we’re told that art is not important and that we can make art on a fucking App,” he said. “When they rob us of art and emotion, that leads us towards the aesthetics of fascism.”
He added that Frankenstein was made with real sets, human-sized decor, and painstaking miniatures. “It’s an opera, made by humans for humans. It’s a film that’s there to remind us that art is not only necessary, it is urgent. And AI can go fuck itself!”
Earlier, at the 2023 Annecy Animation Film Festival, del Toro offered a more philosophical critique: “When people say they’re scared of AI, I say don’t be afraid of any intelligence; be afraid of stupidity. Every intelligence is artificial. Stupidity is natural. Completely, 100 percent natural, organic. Be afraid of stability. That’s the real enemy.”
The restoration of Pan's Labyrinth is part of a wider trend in European cinema and heritage preservation. In Paris, for instance, the Cirque d'Hiver is undergoing a major restoration to reclaim its Second Empire glory, while JR's 'La Caverne du Pont Neuf' is being repaired after storm damage. These projects, like del Toro's, emphasize human skill and historical authenticity over automated shortcuts.
As the film industry grapples with the rise of generative AI, del Toro's insistence on handcrafted restoration serves as a rallying cry for artists and audiences alike. The restored Pan's Labyrinth will screen in cinemas across Europe and beyond this October, offering a chance to experience the film's haunting beauty as its creator intended.
