Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Bride” is a turnaround project that had Netflix chief Scott Stuber objecting at the $65M budget Gyllenhaal requested for her “passion project.” Justo out things into perspective, Gyllenhaal’s first film, “The Lost Daughter,” cost only $5M.
Yet, for reasons beyond comprehension, Warners decided not just to pick up this project, but to spend much more money to produce it — the studio claims $80M, but Puck is now reporting that sources insist the budget has gone past $100M.
Why such high costs? Turns out the film had extensive reshoots, in the $20M range, which were called for by WB film chiefs Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca, who were not satisfied with the cut Gyllenhaal delivered to them in early 2025.
No surprise then that “The Bride!” — which was supposed to come out in September 2025 — was delayed to March 6, 2026, and that’s the date it’s sticking with.
The trailers for this film have been a tonal bewilderment, and over the past few months I’ve only heard negative things about it from advanced screenings, with one source telling me that the cut shown was so dumbfounding that releasing this film theatrically would be a form of “harakiri” for Warner Bros.
The film looks like an episodic, Bonnie-and-Clyde-inspired Frankenstein story, filled with avant-garde visuals and a sprinkle of musical numbers. Whatever it is, I can’t say I’m not intrigued by the sheer ballsy move to make this film on the part of Gyllenhaal.
“The Bride!” has lots of talent involved: Peter Sarsgaard, Christian Bale, Jessie Buckley, Annette Bening, Penélope Cruz, John Mulaney, and Jake Gyllenhaal (who apparently has a musical number during the end credits). The story is said to be a loose remake of 1935’s “Bride of Frankenstein” — the sequel to 1931’s “Frankenstein.”
The DGA and IATSE are two of the most powerful showbiz unions, and If this merger does go through, they will have absolutely played a role in helping make it happen.