When people think of famous blondes, one name always comes to mind: Marilyn Monroe. Monroe was an American actress, singer, and model who made her name playing “blonde bombshells” in a multitude of films from the 1950s to the 1960s. She was something of an icon for the era’s sexual revolution and is ranked by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female screen legends of the Golden Age of Hollywood. So it only makes sense that she’s had her story told many times.

Even from the early years following her death, Marilyn has had unofficial films and made-for-TV movies come out as “untold stories.” However, the most recent is sure to be a hit. Initially slated for a 2021 release, Blonde is set to come out in the fall of this year and is already stirring the pot with its rating, stars, and story.

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Here’s what audiences should know about the upcoming Netflix Original Blonde.

Blonde: The Plot

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The film is based on the bestselling 2000 novel by Joyce Carol Oates. It is a fictionalized version of Monroe’s life and was first conceived after Oates saw a photo of the young star when she won a beauty contest in 1941. The synopsis for Blonde reads,

The film is rated NC-17 for its graphic sexual content and will be the first film of its kind to be put onto the streaming service.

Blonde: The Cast & Crew

The film is directed by Andrew Dominik, a New Zealand-born Australian film director and screenwriter. He is known for his work on Killing Them Softly (2012), starring Brad Pitt, and more recently, episodes of the Netflix series Mindhunter (2019). Oates highly approves of the director, stating:

The film is also being produced by Brad Pitt’s production company, Plan B Entertainment, Inc., which he founded in 2001 with Brad Grey and Jennifer Aniston. He is joined in his producing responsibilities by the president of Plan B, Dede Gardner, and American film producer Jeremy Kleiner (Moonlight, 2016). Also producing are Tracey Landon, who co-produced the upcoming film Amsterdam, starring Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, John David Washington, and Scott Robertson, who was an executive producer on Booksmart (2019).

The film has generated quite a lot of buzz for its leading lady. Headlining the film as Marilyn Monroe will be Ana de Armas. The Cuban and Spanish actress snatched up the role and mesmerized the director after just a single audition. This came after nearly a decade of Dominik searching for the right actress for the role. Many voiced concern about Armas’ performance, including her prominent accent.

However, the actress has earned many praises, including from her Knives Out co-star, Jamie Lee Curtis, whose father starred opposite Monroe in Some Like It Hot, saying:

The actress is joined by an incredible cast. Adrien Brody, known for his roles in films like The Pianist (2002), King Kong (2005), and The French Dispatch (2021), will be playing the role of Arthur Miller, one of Monroe’s husbands and famous playwright and screenwriter in the 20th century. Bobby Cannavale (The Irishman, 2019) will be portraying another of Marilyn’s husbands, American baseball icon Joe DiMaggio. The cast includes so many more exceptional talents, including Julianne Nicholson (I, Tonya, 2019), Caspar Phillipson (Jackie, 2016), Toby Huss (Halloween, 2018), and more.

Release Date

The film will globally hit Netflix on September 23, 2022.

Everything Else

The film has been promised to cause controversy. Star Adrien Brody stated in the Actor’s Side podcast, “There will be some controversy with that one, I’m sure.” The film’s director commented on this, crediting the #MeToo movement with the film finally getting made.

Dominik stated that before the movement, “nobody was interested in that [kind of story].” He also said that the film will go after “American sacred cows” that affected Monroe’s life significantly, like President John F. Kennedy and Joe DiMaggio.

Oates discussed the film and how she wanted to tell a story of the real version of Monroe and not the bubblegum beauty queen the world has come to idolize. She wanted a story of the life her persona left her with. She stated: