Guillermo del Toro has earned a new honor…
The 60-year-old Mexican Oscar-winning filmmaker, author and artist will receive the Cinema Audio Society‘s 2026 Filmmaker Award during the group’s awards show in March.
The Frankenstein filmmaker and three-time Oscar winner will be feted during the 62nd annual CAS Awards on March 7 at a venue to be announced.
CAS says its annual career award is presented to a filmmaker who truly understands what the sound crafts can bring to their projects and have provided the world with brilliant works of art and storytelling.
That certainly makes del Toro a worthy recipient.
“Audiovisual entertainment — telling stories with images and sound — well, it requires the most careful composition and exacting standards to deliver a memorable experience in every theatre and every home,” said del Toro, who won Best Picture and Director Academy Awards for 2017’s The Shape of Water and Best Animated Feature for his 2022 take on Pinocchio. “It is an honor to be recognized by those whom I consider and value as my peers and my admired colleagues.”
The Mexico-born multi-hyphenate also has three other career Oscar nominations along with multiple PGA, BAFTA and Daytime Emmys, a DGA Award, a Golden Globe and countless guild and film festival nods.
He studied under Oscar-winning special effects artist Dick Smith and made his first feature, Cronos, in 1993. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Critics Prize.
He followed with Mimic (1997), The Devil’s Backbone (2001) and Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay and won for Art Direction, Cinematography and Makeup.
His directing credits also include Nightmare Alley, Crimson Peak, Pacific Rim and the Hellboy films in 2004 and 2008.
His latest film is Frankenstein, which he directed and wrote based on Mary Shelley’s timeless novel and stars Oscar Isaac, Christoph Waltz and Jacob Elordi as the Monster. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August, drawing a 15-minute ovation, and hits theaters, including Imax, on November 7 via Netflix.
“The CAS Filmmaker Award recognizes directors who understand the critical role that sound plays in film and television, and Guillermo embodies that appreciation at the highest level,” CAS President Peter Kurland said. “His films are defined not only by their stunning visuals and deeply human themes but also by their masterful use of sound to build atmosphere, suspense and wonder. Guillermo’s collaboration with sound artists has elevated every story he’s told.”
The 2026 CAS Awards nominations in seven categories will be revealed on January 20, two days before we get the Oscar noms. Its CAS Career Achievement Award recipient will be revealed later.
