Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride Is a “Wildly Romantic” Musical

There’s been countless movies based on Frankenstein’s monster, and there’s one coming out soon centered on his bride. Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, Warner Bros. has been fairly secretive about what kind of movie The Bride will be, but according to actor (and Gyllenhaal’s husband) Peter Sarsgaard, it seems the two monsters will be starring in a musical.

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Sarsgaard was asked about his experience making the film. He was pretty positive about his time there, and went in full wife guy mode to call it “the best script I’ve ever read. It really was satisfying on so many levels.” What puts it so high for him? In his words, it’s a “big movie” for adults and teenagers, a crowdpleaser that’s “violent at times and wildly romantic.” He went on to describe it as “punk,” and said will feature “big numbers dance numbers and stuff. […] I’m so happy with the way that Warner Bros. has supported Maggie on the movie.”

Unlike most previous versions of the Frankenstein story, The Bride is set in 1930s Chicago, with Jessie Buckley taking on the titular role and Christian Bale playing the monster. Without giving too much away, Sarsgaard was glowing about what the top-billed pair brought to the production. The former Newsie, he said, is a “phenomenal actor with such devotion. […] He can’t help but be in it. It’s not a choice, [or] a pretension. It’s just the way that he is.” As for Buckley, he commended her for being “the most abstract, random, free-flowing, in-the-moment actor you could ever work with. The Bride is so ambitious because [it has] one of the best scripts.”

A big-budget musical Frankenstein movie sounds like another interesting, weird swing that classic monsters have been getting the last few years. Here’s hoping that unlike with Joker 2, Warner Bros. decides to fully market The Bride as a musical ahead of its release on September 26, 2025.

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