Blonde (2022 film)

Blonde
Directed by	Andrew Dominik
Produced by	Dede Gardner Jeremy Kleiner Tracey Landon Brad Pitt Scott Robertson
Screenplay by	Andrew Dominik
Based on	Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates
Starring	Ana de Armas Adrien Brody Bobby Cannavale Julianne Nicholson
Music by	Nick Cave Warren Ellis
Cinematography	Chayse Irvin
Edited by	Adam Robinson
Production company	Plan B Entertainment
Distributed by	Netflix
Release dates	2022 (2022)
Country	United States
Language	English

Blonde is an upcoming American biographical drama film written and directed by Andrew Dominik and based on the 2000 novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates. Based on the life of actress Marilyn Monroe, it stars Ana de Armas as Monroe. Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale and Julianne Nicholson appear in supporting roles. Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tracey Landon, Brad Pitt, and Scott Robertson serve as producers on the film, which, after a lengthy period of development that began in 2010, began production in Los Angeles in August 2019. It is scheduled to be released in 2022 by Netflix.

Premise

The film is a fictionalized take on the life of Marilyn Monroe.

Cast

• Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe
  • Lily Fisher as Young Norma Jeane
• Adrien Brody as The Playwright
• Bobby Cannavale as The Ex-Athlete
• Julianne Nicholson as Gladys
• Caspar Phillipson as The President
• Toby Huss as Whitey
• Sara Paxton as Miss Flynn
• David Warshofsky as Mr. Z
• Evan Williams as Eddy
• Xavier Samuel as Cass
• Garret Dillahunt
• Scoot McNairy
• Lucy DeVito
• Michael Masini as Tony Curtis
• Spencer Garrett as President's Pimp
• Chris Lemmon
• Luke Whoriskey as James Dean
• Rebecca Wisocky as Yvet
• Ned Bellamy as Doc Fell
• Dan Butler

Production

Development and writing

Andrew Dominik, who served as the director and writer on the film, had begun developing the project as early as 2010, which is an adaptation of the novel, Blonde (2000), by Joyce Carol Oates. Dominik discussed his fascination with Marilyn Monroe, stating "Why is Marilyn Monroe the great female icon of the 20th Century? For men she is an object of sexual desire that is desperately in need of rescue. For women, she embodies all the injustices visited upon the feminine, a sister, a Cinderella, consigned to live among the ashes [...] I want to tell the story of Norma Jean as a central figure in a fairytale; an orphan child lost in the woods of Hollywood, being consumed by that great icon of the twentieth century." Dominik described the film as being "more accessible" than his previous projects, and revealed that his script contained "very little dialogue", as he preferred to make it more of an "avalanche of images and events." Furthermore, Dominik stated:

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. It takes all of those things and turns the meanings of them inside out, according to how she feels, which is basically how we live. It's how we all operate in the world. It just seems to me to be very resonant. I think the project has got a lot of really exciting possibilities, in terms of what can be done, cinematically.

For Dominik, Blonde was his first attempt at developing a film featuring a woman at the center of the story. During a retrospective screening of his western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), Dominik stated, "It's a different thing for me to do [...] the main character is female. My films are fairly bereft of women and now I'm imagining what it's like to be one."

Pre-production

In May 2010, it was announced that Naomi Watts would star in the film as Monroe, and that the production, which at this point cost an estimated $20 million, was slated to begin principal photography in January 2011. Principal photography on the film didn't commence, with Dominik later stating he hoped it would be his next film, with production commencing in 2013. During this time, Dominik directed the crime drama Killing Them Softly (2012), starring Brad Pitt, who subsequently became interested in the project. In June 2012, it was announced Plan B Entertainment would produce the film, with Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner serving as producers, though, Watts' participation was in question, as "it's likely that the filmmakers would go in a different direction," according to the report. In April 2014, it was announced that Jessica Chastain had replaced Watts as Monroe. Chastain had co-starred in Terrence Malick's drama The Tree of Life (2011) opposite Pitt, who was instrumental in her casting. The report also revealed that Dominik was planning to begin principal photography in August of that year.

Dominik attributed the delays in production partly due to financing: "it's just a question of how much money I can get to make the film. And I really want to make that movie. I've been working on it for years."

Casting

In March 2019, it was announced that Ana de Armas was in early negotiations to star in the film, replacing Chastain. Dominik noticed de Armas's performance in Knock Knock, and while she went through a long casting process, Dominik secured her the role after the first audition. In preparation, de Armas worked with a dialect coach for a year. De Armas described her casting process: "I only had to audition for Marilyn once and Andrew said 'It's you,' but I had to audition for everyone else [...] The producers. The money people. I always have people I needed to convince. But 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." De Armas considered her relationship with Dominik to be the most collaborative of her career, remarking, "Yes, I have had collaborative relationships, but to get phone calls at midnight because he has an idea and he can't sleep and all of a sudden you can't sleep for the same reason."

In August 2019, it was announced that Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale and Julianne Nicholson joined the cast, followed by Garret Dillahunt, Scoot McNairy, Lucy DeVito, Michael Masini, Spencer Garrett, Chris Lemmon, Rebecca Wisocky, Ned Bellamy and Dan Butler in September 2019.

Filming

Principal photography began in Los Angeles in August 2019.

Release

In August 2016, it was announced Netflix would distribute the film. In June 2021, Thierry Frémaux revealed that he had invited Blonde to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, though Netflix declined, as it may only be screened out-of-competition.

Reception

Joyce Carol Oates, the author of the book on which the film is based, viewed a rough cut of the film, and publicly stated: "I have seen the rough cut of Andrew [Dominik]'s [sic] adaptation and it is startling, brilliant, very disturbing and perhaps most surprisingly an utterly 'feminist' interpretation...not sure that any male director has ever achieved anything [like] this." Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who co-starred opposite de Armas in Knives Out, and whose father, actor Tony Curtis, co-starred opposite Monroe in Some Like it Hot, was impressed with de Armas' performance: "I dropped to the floor. I couldn't believe it. Ana was completely gone. She was Marilyn."

See also

• Marilyn Monroe in popular culture
• Cultural depictions of John F. Kennedy
• Blonde (2001 film)

External links

• Blonde at IMDb