
The film came out at a time when adaptations of classic books were popular, and also during a high point in director Kenneth Branagh’s career. Francis Ford Coppola’s visually striking Bram Stoker’s Dracula had recently shown that gothic stories could still be successful in theaters. Branagh, known for his well-received versions of Henry V and Much Ado About Nothing, seemed like the ideal director to bring another classic, troubled character to life. He was becoming known in Hollywood for his strong theatrical style, his use of Shakespearean stories, and his ability to make those films profitable. With Coppola as a producer and Robert De Niro cast as the Monster, Frankenstein seemed destined to be part of the brief trend of lavish, mature horror films. However, Branagh’s version wasn’t the straightforward, critically acclaimed film the studio probably anticipated. Instead, he delivered a wildly imaginative and intensely earnest film, almost like an opera.