It’s been four years since we last saw Andrew Dominik, the talented filmmaker behindChopperandThe Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, with 2012’s furious, imperfectKilling Them Softly. In the five years between 2007’sJesse JamesandKilling Them Softly, Dominik was shopping aroundBlonde, a biopic ofMarilyn Monroebased onJoyce Carol Oates' beloved tome of the same name. First,Naomi Wattswas on board as the tragic, brilliant actress. Then, after Watts was forced to drop out of the project,Jessica Chastainwas set to star, having already proven capable of pulling off a blonde bob inThe Help. Then Chastain also had to drop out and the film looked like it wasn’t going to happen at all, until rumors started floating around town that Netflix was interested in backing Dominik’s biopic of theGentlemen Prefer Blondesstar.
Well, that’s no longer a rumor. AsThe Film Stagereport this morning, a recent interview between Dominik andAnne Thompson at Indiwireconcluded with the director confirming thatBlondewill be his next film and that Netflix will indeed be footing the bill with plans to release it in theaters in a limited run and on the streaming service in the near future. Apparently he’s already cast someone in the role, but won’t announce who his star is quite yet; he says that he’s booked the mystery performer for January.
For the time being, Dominik is stumping for his new documentary,One More Time With Feeling, his chronicle ofNick Cavemaking his new record,Skeleton Tree, with The Bad Seeds in the wake of the tragic death of his son. That film just enjoyed a premiere at the Venice Film Festival and looks to be one of the major releases of the fall, as it will hit theaters for an extremely limited engagement along with the release ofSkeleton Tree. One might very well expectBlondeto similarly cover the aftermath of death, but we’re going to be waiting awhile before we know anything concrete about what Dominik is planning, unfortunately.
