Guillermo del Toro returned to San Diego Comic-Con this past week to take part in a special Pan’s Labyrinth 20th anniversary panel, which also featured stars Doug Jones and Ivana Baquero. They were on hand to preview the upcoming theatrical re-release of Del Toro’s masterpiece, which is headed to the big screen beginning October 9, 2026.

Guillermo del Toro made one thing crystal clear about the 2006 film’s upcoming theatrical release in 3D and HDR; “absolutely no goddamn AI” was used any step of the way.

“It’s much more expensive… I don’t care,” del Toro said, speaking about the painstaking process of bringing the film into the 4K 3D format by hand. “What we’re protecting is the beauty and redeeming power of art. We are protecting a lineage of art.”

Del Toro added, “You have to put in time. You have to do every element by hand.”

If there’s any filmmaker at the moment who completely embodies the anti-AI movement it’s Guillermo del Toro, who has been vocally against the use of generative AI in the creation of art from the very beginning. He said back in October of last year that he’d “rather die” than use AI.

Other big name filmmakers have been dipping their toes into generative AI, with AI recently used by David Fincher for the restoration of his film Se7en. It’s likely to become more and more common in Hollywood for the restoration of older movies and the creation of brand new movies, but Guillermo del Toro is standing in firm opposition to the controversial technology.

He recently shouted at the Gotham Awards, “Fuck AI!”

Bloody Disgusting’s parent company Cineverse is teaming up with Fathom Entertainment for the Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth 20th Anniversary release, in theaters October 9.

Pan’s Labyrinth will be presented theatrically for the first time by Cineverse and Fathom in 4K, and with versions available in both 3D and HDR by Barco – the dedicated HDR viewing solution offering up to 6 times higher peak luminance.

Each version for this re-release has been overseen by Guillermo del Toro.

Tickets will be available online September 9 and at participating theater box offices.

Pan’s Labyrinth takes place in 1944, in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War.

Young Ofelia and her pregnant mother have been brought to live in the countryside, where her brutal stepfather Captain Vidal’s job is to wipe out the remaining rebels camped in the local forest. Nearby, in a hidden labyrinth, Ofelia meets an ageless Faun, who tells her that she is really a princess from an enchanted world. He gives her three tasks which she must complete in order to reclaim her rightful place. As her mother’s failing health threatens the life of her unborn child, Ofelia undertakes a quest to complete the Faun’s tasks.