Who else loved Yorgos Lanthimos’ Oscar-winning The Favourite? Fans of the lesbian black comedy will be happy to hear that the Greek director is reuniting with star Emma Stone for a Frankenstein tale called Poor Things.
Adapted from Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel of the same name, the story “follows the bizarre life of oversexed, volatile Bella Baxter, an emancipated woman, and a female Frankenstein. Bella is not her real name; as Victoria Blessington, she drowned herself to escape her abusive husband, but a surgeon removed the brain from the fetus she was carrying and placed it in her skull, resuscitating her. The revived Bella has the mental age of a child. Engaged to marry [Glasgow physician Archibald McCandless], she chloroforms him and runs off with a shady lawyer who takes her on a whirlwind adventure, hopping from Alexandria to Odessa to a Parisian brothel. As her brain matures, Bella develops a social conscience, but her rescheduled nuptials to Archie are cut short when she is recognised as Victoria by her lawful husband, Gen. Sir Aubrey Blessington.”
Stone will obviously play Baxter, while Lanthimos and Tony McNamara (who also co-wrote on The Favourite) will adapt the Scottish writer’s work for Searchlight Pictures, with production being eyed for an autumn 2021 start.
Emma Stone is not the only actress we’re looking forward to seeing lead a Frankenstein retelling, since it was announced last year that Scarlett Johansson would play the Bride of Frankenstein in Sebastian Lelio’s Bride for Apple and A24.