The Bride!

The Bride! is an upcoming American sci-fi musical monster film, both written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who also produces.

The film stars Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, and Annette Bening.

It is inspired by James Whale’s 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein, which itself was adapted from Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.

The movie is set for release in the United States on September 26, 2025, by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Cast

• Jessie Buckley as Frankenstein’s bride
• Christian Bale as Frankenstein’s monster
• Penélope Cruz as Myrna
• Peter Sarsgaard as a detective
• Annette Bening
• Julianne Hough
• John Magaro
• Jeannie Berlin
• Jake Gyllenhaal
• Linda Emond
• Louis Cancelmi
• Matthew Maher

Production

Maggie Gyllenhaal, seen in Berlin at the 67th Berlinale in 2017, directs The Bride!, marking her second feature film. In August 2023, Production Weekly first revealed the remake of Bride of Frankenstein from Netflix, with Gyllenhaal writing, directing, and starring Penélope Cruz, Christian Bale, and Peter Sarsgaard (Gyllenhaal’s husband). However, after the 2023 Hollywood strikes, Netflix reportedly abandoned the project in favor of a new Frankenstein film by Guillermo del Toro. By November 2023, Warner Bros. Pictures took over the production of the adaptation.

In January 2024, Annette Bening joined the cast alongside Jessie Buckley, who previously worked with Gyllenhaal on her 2021 directorial debut, The Lost Daughter. Bale and Buckley were already attached to the film before the strikes. In March 2024, Julianne Hough was announced as part of the cast, followed by John Magaro and Jeannie Berlin in April. By June 2024, Jake Gyllenhaal revealed he would also appear in the film.

Filming was set to begin on March 4, 2024, in New York City. The movie will feature “big dance numbers,” as mentioned by Sarsgaard. Dylan Tichenor handled the editing, and Jonny Greenwood composed the score. By August 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that Warner Bros. co-chairs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy had stepped in to fund the project, as Netflix had left due to disagreements about filming locations. The film’s production and marketing budget is expected to exceed $100 million, with Gyllenhaal praising the creative freedom she received from De Luca and Abdy.

Release

The Bride! is scheduled to hit theaters in the United States on September 26, 2025, although it was originally slated for release on October 3, 2025.