Marilyn Monroe Biopic “Blonde” to Premiere at Venice

Cuban-Spanish actress Ana de Armas’ Marilyn Monroe biopic “Blonde” is set to be premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival.

The festival will run at Venice Lido from August 31 to September 10. It is organized by La Biennale di Venezia and directed by Alberto Barbera.

The aim of the Festival is to raise awareness and promote international cinema in all its forms as art, entertainment, and as an industry, in a spirit of freedom and dialogue.

Venice also organizes retrospectives and tributes to major figures as a contribution toward a better understanding of the history of cinema.

The festival will announce the lineup on July 27.

“Blonde” has been in development ever since 2010 and is based on Joyce Carol Oates’ 2000 novel of the same title.

The movie will follow Monroe’s rise to fame from when she was still known as Norma Jeane Mortenson.

The cast also includes Adrien Brody, Julianne Nicholson, Bobby Cannavale, Caspar Phillipson, Scoot McNairy, and Sarah Paxton.

Brody and Cannavale are set to portray two of the actress’ husbands, Arthur Miller and Joe DiMaggio, while Monroe’s mother, Gladys Pearl Baker, will be played by Nicholson.

The movie is rated NC-17 by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) which deemed the biopic not suitable for younger audiences.

The project is reportedly Netflix’s first original movie to be given the rare NC-17 rating from the MPA directly.

Actresses Jessica Chastain and Naomi Watts were once attached to the project, but they both dropped out of the role. Cuban actress Ana de Armas took on the role in 2019 after becoming close with filmmaker Andrew Dominik, who serves as the movie’s writer and director.

“Blonde” will debut on Netflix and in theaters later this year.