Movies
‘The Bride’ – Maggie Gyllenhaal’s ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ Remake Set to Begin Production Soon
While Guillermo del Toro is hard at work on his new Frankenstein adaptation, director Maggie Gyllenhaal appears to be gearing up to begin production on The Bride, a Bride of Frankenstein update, according to the Production List.
The listing confirms previous reports that The Bride will star Penelope Cruz as the Bride, Christian Bale as Frankenstein, and Peter Sarsgaard as a detective.
It doesn’t include plot details, however, beyond “a horror thriller, about the Bride of Frankenstein.” So, it remains unclear whether The Bride will be a more faithful period horror remake or a give a contemporary spin on the classic horror movie.
In the original 1935 film from director James Whale, “After recovering from injuries sustained in the mob attack upon himself and his creation, Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive) falls under the control of his former mentor, Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), who insists the now-chastened doctor resume his experiments in creating new life. Meanwhile, the Monster (Boris Karloff) remains on the run from those who wish to destroy him without understanding that his intentions are generally good despite his lack of socialization and self-control.”
Also new is that The Bride‘s cast will include Jessie Buckley (Men, I’m Thinking of Ending Things), though no details on her character have been revealed as of yet.
Bale most recently starred in the Netflix period horror movie The Pale Blue Eye, centered around a young Edgar Allan Poe. The Bride would be Gyllenhaal’s sophomore directorial effort; the actor-turned-director made her debut with 2021’s The Lost Daughter starring Olivia Colman.
Various plans for a Bride of Frankenstein remake have been announced over the years, more recently with the failed Dark Universe and A24’s long-dormant Bride. One thing is for certain, though, Frankenstein is on trend if last year’s horror offerings are any indication. At least that gives us plenty of options to help with the anticipation while we wait to discover more about Gyllenhaal’s take on the Universal Classic Monster.
Production is currently scheduled to begin this March.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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