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An NC-17 Marilyn Monroe Biopic Is Coming This Year
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Ana de Armas is starring as Marilyn Monroe in “Blonde,” an upcoming Netflix film from director Andrew Dominik – and the movie is already making headlines. The new biopic, based on Joyce Carol Oates’s 2000 novel of the same name, is set to hit Netflix in 2022. The movie has been hit with an NC-17 rating – the first film from the streamer to receive that designation.
The director told Screen Daily in February, “It’s a demanding movie. If the audience doesn’t like it, that’s the f*cking audience’s problem. It’s not running for public office.” He added, “It’s an NC-17 movie about Marilyn Monroe; it’s kind of what you want, right? I want to go and see the NC-17 version of the Marilyn Monroe story.”
Getting an NC-17 rating is usually the kiss of death, since it limits ticket sales. But since Netflix doesn’t prioritise theatrical release the way traditional studios do, it’s unclear how much the rating will affect their plans.
Read on for everything we know about the movie, including the cast, release date, and trailers.
Corbis via Getty Images / Stephane Cardinale - Corbis
Who Is in the "Blonde" Cast?
Ana de Armas stars as Marilyn Monroe. Adrien Brody plays Arthur Miller, Bobby Cannavale plays Joe DiMaggio, Julianne Nicholson plays Gladys Pearl Baker, and Caspar Phillipson plays John F. Kennedy.
Getty Images For Louis Vuitton / Pascal Le Segretain
Who Is the Director?
“Blonde” is directed by Andrew Dominik. He directed films like 2007’s “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” and 2012’s “Killing Them Softly.”
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Is "Blonde" a True Story?
The film “Blonde” is based on Joyce Carol Oates’s 2000 novel of the same name – a fictional account of Monroe’s life. Oates has always said that the novel is inspired by her own imagination of what it was like to be Monroe. Many of the men in Monroe’s life are not referred to by name in the novel.
For her part, Oates praised the film in a 2021 tweet, writing, “an exquisite portrait of Marilyn Monroe by Ana de Armas & director Andrew [Dominik]; one without the other could perhaps not have worked this magic. the tone of the film is hard to classify, not surreal but not totally realistic, not ‘horror’ but suffused with the dread of horror.”
Getty Images / M. Garrett
Why Is "Blonde" Rated NC-17?
“Blonde” was given an NC-17 rating for sexual content. No details have been provided about the specific scene(s) that led to the decision.
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When Will "Blonde" Be Released?
Netflix has said that the movie will come out in 2022 but hasn’t provided a specific release date. Dominik has said he hopes the movie will premiere at May’s Cannes Film Festival, but Cannes has strict rules about movies that screen at the festival getting a full theatrical release before they hit streaming. It’s possible Netflix won’t agree to that condition.
