The Shape of Water (2017): trivia & fun facts

Fun facts

• A fan of her performances in Fingersmith (2005) and Happy-Go-Lucky (2008), del Toro wrote the script with Sally Hawkins in mind for the female lead and pitched the idea to her while he was intoxicated at the 2014 Golden Globes.
• Michael Shannon was cast as Richard Strickland, the villain of the film.
• The Shape of Water premiered on August 31, 2017, at the 74th Venice International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Golden Lion.
• Three years before The Shape of Water was released, del Toro met with composer Alexandre Desplat to talk about the film's premise.
• Fox Searchlight Pictures offered del Toro either a $20 million budget to make the film in color or a $17 million budget to shoot it in black and white.
• Reed also stated Benicio was Spanish, whereas he is Puerto Rican; Guillermo del Toro hails from Mexico.
• Even the film's Canadian co-producer, J. Miles Dale, stated that he supports the rules and does not believe the film should have been eligible.
• In 2025, it was one of the films voted for the "Readers' Choice" edition of The New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," finishing at number 227.
• Filming took place on location in Ontario, Canada, from August to November 2016.
• The weekend of March 9–11, following its four Oscar wins, the film made an additional $2.4 million.

Source: Wikipedia

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