Christian Bale Teams With Batman Co-Star In Bride Of Frankenstein For Netflix, Our Scoop Confirmed
Back in May we brought you the news that Christian Bale (Thor: Love and Thunder) would be leading a The Bride of Frankenstein remake for Netflix. We also said the remake would be helmed by Bale’s The Dark Knight co-star Maggie Gyllenhaal. Well, everyone else seems to be catching up, since our scoop has now been confirmed by multiple sources, including Fangoria.
Our report that Christian Bale will star in Netflix‘s The Bride of Frankenstein remake helmed by Maggie Gyllenhaal has been confirmed.
Considering he will be in the lead role, the presumption right now is that Christian Bale will be playing Doctor Frankenstein, the creator of the iconic monster. The original 1935 film was the very first sequel to 1931’s Frankenstein, in which the scientist is forced to create a mate for his monster.
Doctor Frankenstein’s mentor — Doctor Septimus Pretorius — recruits the monster and together they kidnap Frankenstein’s wife, using her as leverage to force the creation of the Bride. Frankenstein succeeds in making the Bride, but her reaction to the monster when she wakes isn’t what he imagines. Boris Karloff reprised his role as Frankenstein’s Monster, while Elsa Lanchester played the Bride.
Save for the obvious shared source material, there is no connection between Del Toro’s Frankenstein and Gyllenhaal’s The Bride of Frankenstein.
We don’t know whether or not Maggie Gyllenhaal will join Christian Bale in front of the camera, or if she’ll limit her involvement to directing. Considering her more recent history, the latter actually seems more likely. Her last film appearance was in 2020’s Best Summer Ever, meanwhile her feature film directorial debit — The Lost Daughter starring Olivia Colman (Secret Invasion) — made a big splash for a first effort at the 2022 Academy Awards.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein
As we noted back in May, our sources indicated — in spite of Guillermo del Toro (Nightmare Alley) remaking Frankenstein for Netflix — this is not the beginning of yet another cinematic universe. Save for the obvious shared source material, there is no connection between Del Toro’s Frankenstein and Gyllenhaal’s The Bride of Frankenstein.
Just as it was Giant Freakin Robot who first reported Christian Bale would star in The Bride of Frankenstein, we also scooped the news that Andrew Garfield (Under the Banner of Heaven) will lead Del Toro’s Frankenstein. Our exclusive was later confirmed by Deadline.
We don’t yet know production dates for Christian Bale to begin filming The Bride of Frankenstein but doubtless it, like just about every other TV and film project, is currently on hold because of the Writers’ and Actors’ Strikes. Once we know more details, we’ll make sure you know.
