Warner Bros. Says “I Do” To Maggie Gyllenhaal’s ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ Movie After Netflix Jilts The Project
Here comes the Bride.
Warner Bros. joins Universal and Lionsgate, studios that are also producing films based on the classic monster movies of the 1930s. Maggie Gyllenhaal is directing a Bride of Frankenstein update that will begin filming soon.
The film was once promised to Netflix, but the streamer reportedly dropped it due to a lack of star power. However, Deadline reported Saturday that Annette Bening is the latest cast member to sign on to a roster that now includes Jessie Buckley in the title role along with Christian Bale, Penélope Cruz, and Peter Sarsgaard.
Warner Bros. reportedly picked up the project, which is as yet untitled, in an effort to have more movies about and directed by women, having learned how successful that formula could be as last year’s top movie was their Greta Gerwig-helmed Barbie.
Gyllenhaal’s Bride picture will update the classic Universal Pictures story of a mad scientist trying to find a mate for his creation by changing the setting to a new time and place, and by giving the title character a little more to do than just hiss at her new husband.
The new film’s synopsis reads “A lonely Frankenstein travels to 1930s Chicago to seek the aide of a Dr. Euphronius in creating a companion for himself. The two reinvigorate a murdered young woman and the Bride is born. She is beyond what either of them intended, igniting a combustible romance, the attention of the police and a wild and radical social movement.”
Emma Tillinger Koskoff is producing along with Gyllenhaal, Talia Keleinhendler and Osnat Handelsman-Keren. Gyllenhaal most recently directed The Lost Daughter, for which she received a Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award nomination.
Other classic monster movie retellings coming soon to a theater near you include the 1980s-set Lisa Frankenstein from Lionsgate, coming in April, and an updated (sort of) take on Dracula’s Daughter, called Abigail, from Universal. Universal once had their own Bride of Frankenstein reboot in the works, which would have starred Angelina Jolie, but ultimately the project was cancelled.
There is no projected release date for the film yet.