News Pan’s Labyrinth James Cameron to Guillermo del Toro on Pan’s Labyrinth 3D: “If You Take Less Than 300 Days, I’ll Kill You” The director’s “by hand’ approach to the restoration included forbidding the use of AI By Matthew Byrd | Published on July 28, 2026 Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Studios Comment 0 Share New Share Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Studios Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth is not only returning to theaters later this year but is being converted to 3D for special limited screenings. A 3D conversion of such a film for a re-release requires a tremendous amount of effort, but Del Toro has been adamant that the process not be rushed in order to ensure that the conversion meets his standards and the standards set by the original film. Del Toro also mentioned that another legendary director had some choice words for him about the benefits of not rushing that process. “When you convert to 3D, there are two ways: quick or good. I chose good,” Del Toro told Gold Derby as part of a retrospective on Pan’s Labyrinth. “Specifically, when I talked to Jim Cameron about conversion, he said, ‘If you take less than 300 days, I’ll kill you.’ Because you have to put in the time — you go to every element by hand. A human made a decision. We’re redoing some sound elements, remixing it in Atmos, and doing a new color pass.” The “by hand” line is apparently more than a saying. At SDCC, Del Toro mentioned that he was adamant that nobody use AI software in any way to restore and convert the film. “I said, ‘Absolutely no goddamn AI,'” Del Toro told a cheering SDCC crowd. “What we’re protecting is the beauty and the redeeming power of art. It’s not about who gets the job. We are protecting a lineage of art. If we cut a generation of people from learning their craft, you’re cutting the rest of the history of that medium away from them for what?” Elsewhere in the retrospective interview, Del Toro emphasizes how much he had to fight for his vision of Pan’s Labyrinth, which, when coupled with the director’s previous statements about the use of AI in filmmaking, certainly helps to explain the director’s no-shortcuts approach. You’ll be able to see the results of his team’s efforts when Pan’s Labyrinth is released in various formats across theaters on October 9.[end-mark] The post James Cameron to Guillermo del Toro on <i>Pan’s Labyrinth</i> 3D: “If You Take Less Than 300 Days, I’ll Kill You” appeared first on Reactor.