Where’s Academy Award-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody been since “Tully,” her last produced feature-length screen credit? Well, kind of everywhere actually. She’s penned the upcoming Untitled Madonna Biopic, she has an untitled HBO project in the works for David Spade, she worked on the revamped “Powerpuff” TV series that still hasn’t aired, and has written a bunch of TV movies too. And you can add “Lisa Frankenstein” to the list too.
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Focus Features announced today that Kathryn Newton (“Big Little Lies,” “Blockers”) and Cole Sprouse (“Moonshot,” “Riverdale”) to star in the upcoming feature, “Lisa Frankenstein,” written by Cody known for “Juno,” “Jennifer’s Body” and more. Additionally, the film will mark the feature-length directorial debut of Zelda Williams, the daughter of the late Robin Williams. Principal photography is slated to begin later this summer.
Cody will write and serve as a producer alongside longtime producing partner Mason Novick who will produce via his MXN Entertainment banner. They previously collaborated on films including all the aforementioned films Cody is known for, including the Academy Award-winning “Juno” and “Young Adult.”
Set in 1989, “Lisa Frankenstein” centers on an unpopular high schooler who accidentally re-animates a handsome Victorian corpse during a lightning storm and starts to rebuild him into the man of her dreams using the broken tanning bed in her garage. Presumably, Newton is Lisa and Sprouse is that handsome Victorian corpse who comes to life. The film sounds like Cody’s signature mix of humorous, irreverent YA teen life mixed with outrageous genre elements like “Jennifer’s Body.”
Newton is known for her roles on TV and the breakout Judd Apatow-produced comedy “Blockers.” But she will likely break out even further when she joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe in February in “Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumanium,” playing Paul Rudd’s teenage daughter Cassie Lang. Sprouse is also known for his brooding teen work on “Riverdale” No release date yet, but an upcoming shoot should mean the comedic genre pick is ready for sometime next year.