Paul McGuigan reveals why Victor Frankenstein isn't true to the book

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Paul McGuigan has been dishing the details on upcoming film, Victor Frankenstein saying it's very different to Mary Shelley's original novel and fans of the book might be in for a shock. Total Film sat down with the director to talk about why he wanted his adaptation to be different, and went behind-the-scenes to get some exclusive on-set pictures featuring Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy.

“[Frankenstein] has always been a mad scientist with funny hair – and that’s it,” shrugs director Paul McGuigan. “He’s not really had a backstory. So we give him one – a backstory that we’ve chosen to make up. So there’s not a reverence to the book. I think sometimes people are over- reverent about it. I don’t know if you’ve ever read it, but it’s as dull as dishwater, man. In a way, my catchphrase is always: ‘If you love the book, you’ll hate the movie.’ It’s that kind of twisting of it.”

Total film also caught up with stars James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe who were keen to support McGuigan's more modern version of the tale. “There are things that you’d want to see out of the original,” admits McAvoy. “The archetypal mad doctor, mad scientist. And that’s perfectly there, in bucketloads.” But apparently, there will also be more comedy, action and... err, body fluids?

“One of the most stomach-turning scenes in the film will probably be the scene where I go from being a hunchback to not being a hunchback any more,” says Radcliffe. "It involves... I don’t want to say, because it’s so gross, I’ll ruin it." We can't wait!

Co-starring Jessica Brown Findlay and Andrew Scott, Victor Frankenstein will hit US cinemas November 25 2015 and UK cinemas December 4 2015. Read Total Film's interview with Paul McGuigan, James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe in full in the new issue on sale October 23 2015.

Lauren O'Callaghan
Lauren O'Callaghan

Lauren O'Callaghan is the former Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar+. You'd typically find Lauren writing features and reviews about the latest and greatest in pop culture and entertainment, and assisting the teams at Total Film and SFX to bring their excellent content onto GamesRadar+. Lauren is now the digital marketing manager at the National Trust.