The latest feature partnership for Apple and A24 is an intriguing new riff on the classic Bride of Frankenstein story with a hot packaged attached. Sebastián Lelio, the Chilean filmmaker behind the Foreign Language Oscar winner “A Fantastic Woman” and the critically-acclaimed “Gloria,” will direct Scarlett Johansson in the genre-bending sci-fi drama “Bride.”
READ MORE: Beyond Pablo Larraín: 6 Chilean Directors You Should Know
The logline for Bride reads: a woman created to be an ideal wife— the singular obsession of a brilliant entrepreneur— rejects her creator, and is forced to flee her confined existence, confronting a world that sees her as a monster. It is on the run that she finds her true identity, her surprising power, and the strength to remake herself as her own creation.
Johansson is definitely behind the wheel of the project too as a producer and one wouldn’t be surprised if she handpicked the critically-acclaimed Lelio herself (and it should be noted, Lelio was one of the few filmmakers that defended her during her “Rub & Tug” drama). Rebecca Angelo (“Wolfman”) and Lelio are on board to write the script.
READ MORE: Sebastián Lelio’s Mesmerizing & Mysterious ‘A Fantastic Woman’ [Berlin Review]
Johansson is coming off a banner year. She became an Oscar-nominee for the first time in 2020, but pulled off the rare feat of a double nomination — earning an Academy Award nominations for “Marriage Story” in the Best Actress category and “Jojo Rabbit” in the best-supporting actress race. She also starred in “Avengers: Endgame,” last year and her final appearance as Marvel’s “Black Window” in her belated solo film will come in the summer of 2021.
Lelio had been directing for years, but broke out big on the international scene with 2013’s “Gloria” which made a big splash at the Berlin International Film Festival that year, earning its lead star Paulina García, the Silver Bear Acting prize and the Ecumenical Jury prize for Lelio. Hollywood immediately took notice and the director took off like a shot releasing two films in 2017, the Academy Award-winning “A Fantastic Woman” and the lesbian romantic drama “Disobedience” with Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams.
READ MORE: Berlin Review: Wonderful ‘Gloria’ An Inspired Feat Of Writing, Direction & Performance
He quickly followed that up with 2018’s A24 film, “Gloria Bell,” an English-language remake of his 2013 breakout movie, this time with Julianne Moore in the lead. His follow up project, an episode of TV in the “Homemade” show, an Italian-Chilean anthology series following stories during the COVID-19 pandemic, starring Amalia Kassai premiered this summer on Netflix.
No word on when this will shoot, but Apple is trying to make a splash in the streaming wars, and their partnership with A24 is helping them find projects with cred like this that should work for audiences and critics alike.