According to a recent report at World of Reel (itself sourced to Production Weekly), Maggie Gyllenhaal is remaking 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein for Netflix. If accurate, The Bride will be Gyllenhaal’s second feature film as a director following 2021’s psychological drama, The Lost Daughter.
That alone would be enough to snag our attention, but there’s more: World of Reel also reports that Gyllenhaal’s former The Dark Knight co-star Christian Bale will headline the film. We assume this means he’ll be playing Dr. Frankenstein rather than the Monster or the Bride … but then again, who knows? Bale’s always been up for an unusual acting challenge.
For those unfamiliar with James Whale’s 1935 original, The Bride of Frankenstein was a direct sequel to Whale’s 1931 classic, Frankenstein. The sequel picks up right where the original left off, and revolves around Dr. Frankenstein (who miraculously survives the events of the first film) drawn into a plot by his former mentor, Doctor Septimus Pretorious, to create a mate for Frankenstein’s monster. As you might imagine, things do not go as planned for anyone involved.
Beyond the above, World of Reel’s report only notes that the film is set to begin production sometime next year. At present, we don’t know who else might appear in the film, what time period Gyllenhaal’s The Bride will be set in (maybe it’s a period piece; maybe they’re doing a radical reinvention of the property), or when it might arrive. In all likelihood, it’ll be a while before we hear anything further on this one.
That said, rest assured we’ll be keeping our ear to the ground for further updates, and will have those in front of you just as soon as they cross our radar. Stay tuned, folks!
