Dark Fantasy Masterpiece Sets Theatrical Re-Release for 20th Anniversary

Some movies never really leave people alone, and Pan’s Labyrinth is absolutely one of them. Guillermo del Toro’s dark fantasy classic has spent the last two decades haunting viewers in the best possible way, the kind of film that feels just as brutal as it is beautiful. It’s one of those rare titles that gets passed around almost like a dare and a recommendation at the same time. You watch it once, and bits of it stay lodged in your brain forever. Now, nearly 20 years after it first stunned audiences, the film is getting the kind of big-screen return that actually feels worthy of it.

Cineverse has announced that Pan’s Labyrinth will return to theaters nationwide on October 9, 2026, with Fathom Entertainment serving as the theatrical distribution partner for the rerelease. This 20th anniversary run will mark the first time the film has been presented theatrically in 4K by Cineverse and Fathom, with versions also available in 3D and in Barco HDR. The rerelease has been overseen by del Toro himself, which makes this feel less like a standard revival booking and more like a real event.

Set in 1944 in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, the film follows Ofelia, a young girl who moves with her pregnant mother to the countryside, where her brutal stepfather Captain Vidal is hunting down rebels. There, she encounters a mysterious Faun who tells her she may be a princess from another world and gives her three tasks to complete. The film stars Ivana Baquero as Ofelia, Maribel Verdú as Mercedes, Sergi López as Captain Vidal, and Doug Jones as the Faun and the Pale Man.

Pan’s Labyrinth earned six Oscar nominations and won three, for cinematography, art direction, and makeup. It also still holds a 95% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and was famously named the best film of 2006 by Roger Ebert.

How Good Is ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’?

Collider’s review stated that Pan’s Labyrinth is one of Del Toro’s strongest films because it brings together everything he does best. It is a dark fairy tale, a war drama, and a story about innocence trying to survive in a cruel world. The film moves between fantasy and reality, but it never feels split in two. Instead, both sides of the story make each other stronger.

It’s still just as melancholy as his other work, and it still wrestles with what it means to be human by looking at monstrosities. Like Devil’s Backbone, it offers the brief comfort of an ordered universe that will mete out justice to the most evil among us, and like Hellboy, Mimic, and Blade II, it shows that there’s a big, vast world beyond our perception. It may not be a pretty world, but it’s rich and magical, and worthy of exploration.

Tickets go on sale September 9 through Fathom and participating theater box offices.