It's happening - the Netflix film about Marilyn Monroe's life, Blonde, will air in September - 10 years after documentary Love, Marilyn aired.
Written and directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Ana De Armas, the biopic is one of the most anticipated films of the autumn season.
It will cover both the Hollywood icon's public and private life, blending fact and fiction to show the rise and fame, as well as the eventual demise, of Monroe.
Read Next
From the cast to the controversy, here's everything you need to know about the Marilyn Monroe film Blonde:
What is the Marilyn Monroe film Blonde about?
The film's director Dominik wrote and directed the film based on a novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates, which was published in 2000 and became a bestseller.
It documents the Hollywood star's public and private life.
Taking viewers on an emotional rollercoaster, it shows Monroe on stage, outwardly confident and poised for the camera and her fans; explaining how her career took off; grappling with the pressures of fame; coping with her identity crisis; her romance; and her rage.
In May 2022, Dominik told Vulture: 'The whole idea of Blonde was to detail a childhood drama and then show the way in which that drama splits the adults into a public and private self.
'And how the adult sees the world through the lens of that childhood drama, and it's sort of a story of a person whose rational picture of the world as being overwhelmed by her unconscious, and it uses the iconography of Marilyn Monroe.'
Is Marilyn Monroe film Blonde based on a true story?
In part, yes. The Dominik-directed film, based on Carol Oates' namesake 2000 novel, incorporates both real-life events and fictional drama.
Who stars in Marilyn Monroe film Blonde?
Deep Water star De Armas portrays Monroe, and a range of images have surfaced of her in character. She's joined by Adrien Brody (King Kong), who plays Monroe's ex-husband, the playwright Arthur Miller, who she was married to for five years (from 1956–1961)
The cast also includes Bobby Cannavale, Caspar Phillipson, Evan Williams, Toby Huss, Julianne Nicholson, Lily Fisher, Sara Paxton, David Warshofsky, Xavier Samuel, Michael Masini, Spencer Garrett, Chris Lemmon, Rebecca Wisocky, Scoot McNairy, Dan Butler, Garret Dillahunt, Lucy Devito, and Ned Bellamy.
Producers include Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tracey Landon and Scott Robertson - Christina Oh serves as Executive Producer.
When will Marilyn Monroe film Blonde be released?
Blonde will be released globally on Netflix come September 23, after it debuted at Venice Film Festival.
When did filming for Marilyn Monroe film Blonde start?
Shooting for the film began in 2019. Later, in July 2022, De Armas took to Instagram to share photos of her in Character:
What is the controversy surrounding the Marilyn Monroe film Blonde?
After the trailer for the film was released by Netflix on July 28, fans quickly reacted, with some criticising it as well as De Armas' portrayal of Monroe.
'I have just watched the trailer for Blonde and, no more,' wrote one fan.
'Please can you tell all the movie people to stop making the same trailer.
'You know, clips from the movie, overlaid with a slowed down ‘atmospheric’ version of a song we all know. Thank you and kind regards.'
Another commented: 'That Blonde trailer gave me "collage of Marilyn’s pop culture moments" vibes. It doesn’t read like a biography, more like an exploitation film masquerading as one.'
Referring to Cuban De Armas' depiction of Monroe, someone wrote: 'Am I the only one not surprised that Ana De Armas sounds bad in the Blonde trailer?
'Her accent is very heavy it was going to take a lot for her to convincingly sound like Marilyn.'
Echoing that comment was one person who wrote: 'I think Ana de Armas is a fantastic actress and looks great as Marilyn BUT I still hear her accent in the Blonde trailer and it’s taking her out of character for me.'
However, De Armas wasn't without supporters, including Dominik, who said: 'If the audience doesn’t like it, that’s the f***ing audience’s problem.
It’s not running for public office.'
This came after Blonde star Brody predicted that the film would create 'some controversy' for retelling Monroe’s life and death.
The official Marilyn Monroe Estate later defended De Armas.
'Marilyn Monroe is a singular Hollywood and pop culture icon that transcends generations and history,' Marc Rosen, president of entertainment at Authentic Brands Group (ABG), which owns the estate, per Variety.
'Any actor that steps into that role knows they have big shoes to fill. Based on the trailer alone, it looks like Ana was a great casting choice as she captures Marilyn’s glamour, humanity and vulnerability.
'We can’t wait to see the film in its entirety!'
In relation to the film receiving an NC-17 rating, which is equivalent to an 18 certificate in the UK, director Dominik said he was 'surprised' when the rating was announced because he thought 'we'd coloured inside the lines'.
He told Vulture: 'But I think if you've got a bunch of men and women in a boardroom talking about sexual behaviour, maybe the men are going to be worried about what the women think.'
'It's just a weird time. It's not like depictions of happy sexuality. It's depictions of situations that are ambiguous. And Americans are really strange when it comes to sexual behaviour, don't you think? I don't know why. They make more porn than anyone else in the world.'
How does Ana De Armas feel about playing Marilyn Monroe in Blonde?
De Armas revealed to the The Times last year that she spent almost a year working on her Monroe accent for Blonde, before filming started.
'It took me nine months of dialect coaching, and practicing and some ADR sessions [to get the accent right]. It was a big torture, so exhausting. My brain was fried,' she told the news outlet.
In 2020 she told Vanity Fair that Dominik’s decision to cast a Cuban actor as Monroe was 'groundbreaking'.
She said: 'I only had to audition for Marilyn once and Andrew said ‘It’s you,’ but I had to audition for everyone else.
'The producers. The money people. I always have people I needed to convince. But I knew I could do it. Playing Marilyn was groundbreaking.
'A Cuban playing Marilyn Monroe. I wanted it so badly. You see that famous photo of her and she is smiling in the moment, but that’s just a slice of what she was really going through at the time.'
In 2022, she told Entertainment Weekly that playing the role of Monroe was 'the most intense work I've ever done as an actress'.
She said: 'Research and accent and everything you can imagine. Reading material, and talking to Andrew Dominik for months, and getting ready to start.
'It was three months of shooting nonstop — like, a crazy schedule," she said, adding, "It was the most beautiful thing I've ever done.'
Is there a trailer for the Marilyn Monroe film Blonde?
Yes, and you can watch it above.
An Icon In Pictures: Marilyn Monroe
