I guess I wasn’t paying close enough attention to realize Naomi Watts was no longer attached to star as Marilyn Monroe in Andrew Dominik‘s adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates‘ imaginary Marilyn Monroe memoir Blonde, but that’s the case and today a replacement has been found in Jessica Chastain.
The Wrap reports the news and while the script, written by Dominik, is said to be good to go, the film is still without a start date. It would however, seem a safe bet that filming would begin this year as I would also expect additional casting will be announced shortly. With the Cannes Film Festival coming up it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see the film shopped around the Marche du Film, looking to lock up international distribution as Brad Pitt‘s Plan B is set to produce.
As for the story, Oates is said to have…
…created a striking and poignant portrait of the mythic star and the society that made and failed her. In a five-part narrative corresponding to the stages of Monroe’s life, Oates renders the squalid circumstances of Norma Jeane’s upbringing: the damage inflicted by a psychotic mother and the absence of an unknown (and perpetually yearned for) father, and the desolation of four years in an orphanage and betrayal in a foster home. She reviews the young Monroe’s rocky road to stardom, involving sexual favors to studio chiefs who thought her sluttish, untalented and stupid, while they reaped millions from her movies; she conveys the essence of Monroe’s three marriages and credibly establishes Monroe’s insatiable need for security and love. To a remarkable extent, she captures Monroe’s breathy voice and vulnerable stutter, and the almost schizoid personality that produced her mercurial behavior.
As if you needed a reminder, Dominik is the director of Chopper, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Killing them Softly and a personal favorite of yours truly. I’m already looking forward to this one.
