Marilyn Monroe Biopic Blonde Will Be Released As NC-17 Director's Cut
Andrew Dominik is keeping his Marilyn Monroe biopic dreams alive by hook or by crook. "Blonde" finally locked down Ana de Armas as Monroe after going through more than a few lead actresses, but its troubles didn't stop there. It suffered some behind-the-scenes problems and was pushed back to 2022, but the film finally seems to be in a solid place (at least, for now), even if that place is kind of surprising. According to World of Reel, Netflix has relented and allowed Dominik, who is most known for his arthouse films "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" and "Killing Them Softly" to maintain his NC-17 director's cut of the film.
In the era of direct-to-streaming films, NC-17 feels a little bit like a relic of a bygone time. Netflix Original films (or any films created purely for a streaming platform) don't have to be rated by the Motion Picture Association of American (MPAA), which makes it hard to decipher how many NC-17 films are currently available to stream. Sure, there are some pretty violent, raunchy films available on Netflix, but it's still intriguing to hear that Netflix has reversed course on "Blonde" and is letting Dominik see his vision through to the end, no matter how wild it gets.
Going Blonde
And if early reports are to be believed, the subject matter seems to get pretty intense. Again, World of Reel has reported that Netflix originally balked over a graphic sexual assault scene as well as other sexual content included in the film. On the other hand, Joyce Carol Oates, author of the book "Blonde," which the film is based on, seemed to have nothing but good things to say about the film, and didn't mention its sexual content at all. The author tweeted, "an exquisite portrait of Marilyn Monroe by Ana de Armas & director Andrew Dominic; one without the other could perhaps not have worked this magic. the tone of the film is hard to classify, not surreal but not totally realistic, not 'horror' but suffused with the dread of horror."
Although, who really knows when we'll get a taste of that dread for ourselves? Besides the sort of unspecific release date of 2022, there's no news on when "Blonde" will be available to stream from the comfort of your couch. Until it's out in the world and we can judge Ana de Armas' performance for ourselves, you'll just have to scratch your biopic itch with the other blonde-haired celebrity biopic that's making the rounds right now.