Two horror icons come face-to-face, and fans are already dreaming of a collaboration

Hold onto your hats, horror fans. The collaboration of the century might soon be on its way. When 57-year-old Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, best known for Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water, snapped a selfie with his 44-year-old American counterpart Mike Flanagan, best known for The Haunting of Hill House and Doctor Sleep, the internet went bananas.

Early on Tuesday, Mike Flanagan shared an image of himself and del Toro via his Twitter account. Flanagan, whom del Toro is pointing at, sported a plain black shirt that read, “Una película de Guillermo del Toro,” which translates to “A film by Guillermo del Toro.” Clearly, Flanagan is a huge admirer of del Toro’s work, much like the rest of the world.

While del Toro and Flanagan have both been active for years, horror fans have yet to receive a collaboration, which, if it ever came to pass, would boast some pretty substantive horror pedigree. Flanagan has made a name for himself after taking the horror/thriller genre by storm with Doctor Sleep, an adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining sequel, and The Haunting of Hill House/The Haunting of Bly Manor, both of which saw massive international success on Netflix. As for del Toro, none of his works thus far have topped Pan’s Labyrinth, but horror films like The Orphanage and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark have kept his name in conversation as far as horror fans are concerned.

Flanagan’s next project is an upcoming adaptation of The Season of Passage, based on Christopher Pike’s 1992 sci-fi horror novel of the same name. His name has also been linked to a live-action adaptation of Something Is Killing the Children, an ongoing comic book series by James Tynion IV.

Guillermo del Toro awaits the streaming release of Netflix’s Pinocchio, based on the 1883 Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. Last week, the director unveiled the trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, an ongoing horror anthology series also partnering with Netflix.

But for now, we’ll wait with bated breath for an announcement regarding a del Toro/Flanagan production.