Over the decades, there’ve been various interpretations of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in film and TV. Some stories play things fairly straight, but others offer some kind of new (and often humorous) take on the titular monster: what if the monster were one of Dracula’s best friends, or what if he was tasked with saving the world from the forces of hell? What if Guillermo del Toro took a crack at him?
The newest take on the character asks, What if Frankenstein’s monster were the star of a romcom? Focus Features’ upcoming movie Lisa Frankenstein stars Kathryn Newton as an unpopular high schooler named Lisa in 1989 who ends up accidentally reanimating a Victorian era corpse back to life using the tanning bed in her garage. Said corpse, played by Cole Sprouse, is quite a looker in her eyes, so she decides to just mold him into the boyfriend she’s been unable to get up to this point. And naturally, the duo gradually fall in real love with each other…during which, they may cause some dead bodies along the way.
Lisa Frankenstein was written by Diablo Cody, marking her first real return to the horror genre since 2009’s beloved Jennifer’s Body. (She did uncredited revisions for the script of the 2013 Evil Dead movie.) It’ll also mark the theatrical directorial debut of Zelda Williams, a longtime actor best known for voicing Kuvira in The Legend of Korra and daughter of the late Robin Williams. After production wrapped back in September 2022, Williams expressed her gratitude “to have crossed the (production) finish line on my first film,” calling it “one of the most joyful adventures of my life.”
Also starring Carla Gugino, Liza Soberano, and Henry Eikenberry, Lisa Frankenstein will hit theatres on February 9, 2024.
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