Maggie Gyllenhaal’s $100M ‘The Bride’ Testing Poorly; Warner Bros Trying to Fix The Film

Back in August, I had exclusively reported about the genesis of Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Bride!” A few months later, Netflix dropped the project, due to budget concerns, and the project quickly found a new home at Warner Bros.

Warners might now be regretting that decision. I recently posted about how “The Bride!” has seen very bad test screenings. Puck is confirming that intel and wondering how in the hell did Gyllenhaal, who just directed one film prior to this one, manage to convince Warners to finance her $100M musical.

To give her anything more than $15 million to make the movie is irresponsible, as far as I’m concerned,” said the head of one production company.

The film, which was shot in New York, is said to have had worrisome test scores that suggest it may be too arthouse and not squarely enough in the horror genre to generate the big audience that the budget demands.

The report further states that Warners’ Pamela Abdy is now tasked with getting the film into shape for a planned release in the fall, and word is she’s having a hard time of it. Warners declined to comment.

Here’s a prior reaction that was sent over to me in January. It’s a very worrisome account of what might be in store for us when it comes to “The Bride.”

“The Bride” is awful.” Set in 1930, Jessie Buckley plays a prostitute, with a split personality, who thinks she’s Mary Shelley, and gets killed by her mobster husband. Annette Bening’s character convinces Dr. Frankenstein to resurrect her. I can’t overstate how this movie has no idea what it wants to be. Buckley gives an insane performance. Easily the highlight of the movie. But God such a mess of a movie.

As you know, this is a make it or break it year for Warners who have a handful of big budget auteur-driven original films set for release, including Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” which Puck says actually cost at least $150M.

Then there’s Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” which went over budget and might now have cost $100M to produce. According to Puck, “Sinners” would need a $60M opening weekend to have any chance of recouping its money.

The first of Warners’ auteur-driven projects was released this past weekend, that would be Bong Joon ho’s $130M+ “Mickey 17”; it underperformed with a $19M opening. I’ll have a little more to say about that one in the coming hours.

Back to “The Bride,” Gyllenhaal previously helmed the Netflix-backed 2021 psychological drama, “The Lost Daughter,” starring Olivia Colman, which turned out to be a critical hit. It garnered three Oscar nominations and won Gyllenhaal Best Screenplay honors at Venice. You can bet top dollar that Gyllenhaal will premiere this one on the Lido in 2025.

The film has a stacked cast: Peter Sarsgaard, Christian Bale, Jessie Buckley, Annette Bening, Penelope Cruz, John Mulaney and Jake Gyllenhaal. It’s said to be a loose remake of 1935’s “Bride of Frankenstein” — the sequel to 1931’s “Frankenstein” — and is set for a theatrical and IMAX launch on October 3, 2025.