It seems as though Guillermo del Toro is constantly attached to a ton of projects, but his next film, The Shape of Water, now has a release date: December 8th, 2017, right in the middle the Hollywood’s award nomination season.

Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, The Shape of Water is described as “an other-worldly fairy tale,” which follows Elisa (Sally Hawkins,) who works at a top-secret government laboratory. There, she and a co-worker (Octavia Spencer) discovers a classified experiment in the form of an “aquatic man,” played by Doug Jones.

The film has been described as a more intimate picture along the lines of his earlier films Pan’s Labyrinth and The Devil’s Backbone, rather than the much bigger productions such as Pacific Rim and Crimson Peak. The film drops during the part of the year typically reserved for films studios are angling for awards coverage, and it’s worth noting that another of his more intimate, fantastical films, Pan’s Labyrinth earned a number of Academy Award nominations, and went on to win in the Best Art Direction, Cinematography, and Makeup categories.