It's alive!

Maggie Gyllenhaal has unveiled a first look at her sophomore directorial effort, The Bride!, in the form of camera test images of Jessie Buckley as the titular bride of Frankenstein and Oscar winner Christian Bale as the monster himself. "Meet The Bride & Frank," Gyllenhaal captioned the photos.

Bale's monstrous prosthetics come courtesy of makeup designer Nadia Stacey, who won her first Oscar this year for her work on Poor Things. "I always want to do interesting projects," Stacey previously told A.frame. "Then, when you get the project, it always comes down to the script. And there's real nuggets in there that you can pick out, and start to think [about] what you might be able to do, and create with the world."

A reimagining of 1935's Oscar-nominated The Bride of Frankenstein, The Bride! follows Gyllenhaal's 2022 directorial debut, The Lost Daughter, for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Buckley, who also starred in that film, received a nod for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Here is the official synopsis for The Bride!: A lonely Frankenstein travels to 1930s Chicago to seek the aid of a Dr. Euphronius in creating a companion for himself. The two reinvigorate a murdered young woman and the Bride is born. She is beyond what either of them intended, igniting a combustible romance, the attention of the police and a wild and radical social movement.

The movie's cast also includes five-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening, Oscar winner Penelope Cruz, and Peter Sarsgaard. See the first look photos below.

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Photo by Niko Tavernise
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Photo by Niko Tavernise
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Photo by Niko Tavernise

Warner Bros. is slated to release The Bride! on Oct. 3, 2025.

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