When speaking with Andrew Dominik last year, he finally confirmed plans to shoot his Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde this August, based on the Joyce Carol Oates novel. With production plans underway, he told us, “it’s just a question of how much money I can get to make the film. And I really want to make that movie. I’ve been working on it for years. Blonde‘s interesting because it has very little dialogue in it. My previous three movies have relied on a lot of talking and I don’t think there’s a scene in Blonde that’s longer than two pages. I’m really excited about doing a movie that’s an avalanche of images and events. It’s just a different way. It’s a different thing for me to do. And the main character is female. My films are fairly bereft of woman and now I’m imagining what it’s like to be one.”
It looks like he’ll be having a different woman taking that role, as the long-attached Naomi Watts is now off the project, and the ideal replacement has stepped in. The Wrap reports that Jessica Chastain is about to close her deal to play the iconic star in the project “which reimagines the inner, poetic and spiritual life of Norma Jeane Baker — the child, the woman and the fated-celebrity better known by her studio name.” Once again reteaming with Brad Pitt, who will produce via his Plan B company, we simply can’t wait to se the results, having loved everything from Dominik thus far, and with some hair-dye, Chastain should fit the part wonderfully.
Does Chastain make a great replacement? What do you think of Dominik’s films?