At this point in pop culture history, it feels like there’s nothing new that can be said about Marilyn Monroe. One of the most recognisable faces on the planet, her image and life have been celebrated in everything from an Andy Warhol print to an Elton John song, and with her story immortalised in documentaries such as Love, Marilyn and fictionalised films such as the Eddie Redmayne flick, My Week With Marilyn.
But now, another production will shine a light again on Miss Norma Jeane, with the announcement of Blonde, a biographical film based on the fictionalised novel of the same name, by Joyce Carol Oates.
The feature-length film has been some 10 years in the making, and Netflix have recently announced that the movie will be available on their streaming site later this year. Until then, here’s everything we know about the film so far:
What’s the story?
Blonde - released in 2000 - is a 700-page, Pulitzer Prize-nominated fictionalised novel about the private life of Marilyn Monroe. Oates has always maintained that it’s not meant to be a biography, more a fictionalised version of events - similar perhaps to the Royal family in The Crown, or the O.J. Simpson murder case in American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson.
The author said that she initially intended it just to be a novella, but found once she started, she couldn’t stop writing: “Over time, I got so caught up in her world that I couldn't stop there. The final result was this book. The first draft was, originally, longer than the version that was finally published.”
The novel covers many aspects of Monroe’s life, including her affairs with the President - though Oates never uses names, only initials or pseudonyms - and marriages to Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller. The book also speculates that Monroe may have been assassinated.
What’s the deal with the film adaptation?
Well, it’s been a long time coming with lots of changes of producers and cast, which in our experience doesn’t exactly bode well for the final film.
Naomi Watts was first announced as taking the lead role in 2010, with Andrew Dominik as director, but the filming in 2011 never began as planned. In 2014, it was announced that Jessica Chastain would be replacing Watts, and a new host of producers would also be joining, including Brad Pitt.
In 2016, Netflix announced it had acquired the rights to the film, then in 2019, Chastain was announced as off the project, and Cuban actor Ana De Armas would be stepping into her shoes instead.
Who’s starring in Blonde?
De Armas (who has previously appeared in War Dogs, Blade Runner 2049 and Knives Out) takes the titular role, and revealed how she got into character to The Times: “It only took me nine months of dialect coaching, and practising, and some ADR sessions [rerecording dialogue after filming]. It was a big torture, so exhausting. My brain was fried.”
It’s the role she was born to play, she told Vanity Fair: “I knew I could do it. Playing Marilyn was groundbreaking. A Cuban playing Marilyn Monroe. I wanted it so badly. You see that famous photo of her and she is smiling in the moment, but that’s just a slice of what she was really going through at the time.”
Meanwhile, Adrien Brody will be playing playwright Miller, with Bobby Cannavale as “The ex-athlete) and Caspar Phillipson as John F. Kennedy.
What does the director say about the film?
Dominik loftily declared to Collider in 2016 that the film “will be one of the ten best movies ever made". He added: "It’s a film about the human condition. It tells the story of how a childhood trauma shapes an adult who’s split between a public and a private self. It’s basically the story of every human being, but it’s using a certain sense of association that we have with something very familiar, just through media exposure.”
Blonde trailer
Not just yet, but we’re expecting one soon - same goes for the streaming date, which Netflix looks set to announce shortly.
When is Blonde out?
We just told you! We're not sure!
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