In somewhat unexpected but exciting news, we learned last summer that Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Dark Knight, Donnie Darko) is rumoured to be remaking the 1935 classic Bride of Frankenstein – and according to ProductionList.com, production is due to start very soon, in March of this year.
Even more exciting is the seemingly-confirmed cast list that includes Gyllenhaal’s The Dark Knight co-star Christian Bale, Penรฉlope Cruz, Jessie Buckley and Peter Sarsgaard.
A project summary listed on the site gives us more insight into who’s playing who:
A horror thriller, about the Bride of Frankenstein. With Cruz as the bride Myrna, Bale as Frankenstein, and Sarsgaard playing a detective.
For the unfamiliar, James Whale’s 1935 original, The Bride of Frankenstein was a direct sequel to Whale’s 1931 classic, Frankenstein. The film revolves around the iconic Dr. Frankenstein who is drawn into a plot by his former mentor, Doctor Septimus Pretorious, to create a mate for Frankenstein’s monster.
Interestingly, Gyllenhaal’s project was mentioned in John Mulaney’s speech at the Governors Awards, where he jokes that he was asked to self-tape an audition.
It seems we’re in the age of a Frankenstein renaissance – 2023 bought us birth/rebirth, Where the Devil Roams, Poor Things and The Angry Black Girl And Her Monster, while 2024 has already blessed us with the trailer for Zelda Williams’ Lisa Frankenstein AND the exciting news that Jacob Elordi has joined the cast of Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming Frankenstein (which is pretty much guaranteed to be excellent.)
The Bride will be Gyllenhaal’s second feature film as a director following 2021’s psychological drama, The Lost Daughter.
That’s all the updates we have for now – rest assured we’ll be bringing you further details on plot, casting and release date as and when we get them!
