The upcoming $100 millionFrankensteinmovie starringChristian Baleis fleeing its ideal place on the schedule for 2025. Bale, who has been acting in major movies since he was 13 years old, first appeared in titles such as Steven Spielberg’s 1987 war movieEmpire of the Sunand Kenny Ortega’s 1992 historical musicalNewsies. As an adult, he has blossomed into a decorated performer, earning four Academy Award nominations for his performances inVice,The Big Short,American Hustle, andThe Fighter(the title for which he won).
Christian Bale movieshave taken on a variety of genres, including sci-fi (Terminator Salvation), Western (3:10 to Yuma), superhero (theDark Knighttrilogy), and more, buthe has rarely dabbled in horrorin spite of the fact that his 2000 movieAmerican Psychowas a critical and commercial success. His only other horror-adjacent title has been 2022’sThe Pale Blue Eye, which is more of a historical crime drama, though it does feature Edgar Allan Poe as a character. HisFrankensteinmovie is his first real entry in the genre in decades, but it is not being received well.
The Bride! Has Been Delayed Amid Negative Reactions
It Stars Jessie Buckley Alongside Christian Bale
The Bride!, an upcomingFrankensteinmovie starring Christian Bale and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, has had its release date pushed back and will now come out in 2026 rather than 2025. Theupcoming movieThe Bride!will be set in 1930s Chicago and will follow Frankenstein as he seeks out Dr. Euphronius to make him a companion. In addition to Bale, the cast of the film includes Jessie Buckley, Annette Bening, Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, and Jake Gyllenhaal. This news comes not long after the reveal thatreactions to the film’s early test screenings were negative.
This Universal Monsters Detail Makes Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Upcoming Frankenstein Movie Even More Exciting
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s upcoming Frankenstein movie The Bride! has a creative spin on the setting that’s equal parts an homage and a twist on the classic.
Warner Bros. reveals thatThe Bride!‘srelease date has been changed from July 31, 2025 to July 08, 2025. Paul Thomas Anderson’sOne Battle After Anotherhas now takenThe Bride!‘sprevious release date, which is more ideal than an early 2026 release, as movies released later in the year tend to be stronger awards contenders. These moves come alongside a flurry of schedule changes from the studio, which are as follows:
What This Release Date Change Means For The Bride!
Warner Bros. Doesn’t Seem Confident In The Bride!
This delay suggests that Warner Bros. isn’t very happy with Gyllenhaal’s upcoming movie. A September release date is undoubtedly seen as more ideal than March within the industry, which suggests thatthe studio isn’t confident thatThe Bride!will perform well at the box office. This change shouldn’t necessarily be surprising, as earlytest screenings forThe Bride!reportedly led to a slew of negative reactions. In a recent report fromPuck, the head of one production company even said, “to give [Gyllenhaal] anything more than $15 million to make the movie is irresponsible, as far as I’m concerned.”
SinceThe Bride!‘sbudget is reportedly over $100 million, it could lose a lot of money for Warner Bros.
WhileMaggie Gyllenhaal is a well-known actor, she has only directed one movie prior. Her 2021 directorial debut,The Lost Daughter, has a fantastic 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and was nominated for several Academy Awards. However, it doesn’t seem like Gyllenhaal’s follow-up film will be as successful. SinceThe Bride!‘sbudget is reportedly over $100 million, it could lose a lot of money for Warner Bros.
Movies typically need to earn back two and a half times their budgets, which could placeThe Bride!’s break-even point around $250 million.
There is precedent for this becauseMickey 17, another Warner Bros. genre movie with a $100+ million budget and a March release date, is losing a significant amount of money for the studio. A new report suggests thatthe science fiction project, which cost $118 million without factoring in advertising, could lose up to $80 million, even though it starsThe Batman’s Robert Pattinson and was directed by Bong Joon Ho, whose most recent release beforeMickey 17was the 2019 Best Picture winnerParasite.
Our Take On The Bride!’s Release Date Change
The Bride! Could Be A Box Office Disappointment
The Bride!will reportedly not directly adapt the plot of the critically acclaimed 1935 filmBride of Frankenstein. It has been promised that Gyllenhaal’s take on the story will be an entirely new vision. Regardless of the release date change, it will be exciting to seeChristian Bale play Frankensteinand Jessie Buckley play The Bride. The rest of the cast of the movie is also fantastic. However, because of this change, I now think thatThe Bride!may end up being a disappointment, and could even be a major box office flop.
There is now only one major horror release now set to grace theaters from late September through the end of October…
Additionally, the removal ofThe Bride!from its September release hasresulted in a particularly horror-deficient lead-up to Halloween 2025. Originally, that weekend was meant to feature both theChristian Balemovie and the sequelSaw XI, but on top of the former’s delay, the latter has reportedly been scrapped entirely. This means that there is now only one major horror release now set to grace theaters from late September through the end of October, namely Blumhouse’sThe Black Phone 2, which arrives on October 17. Hopefully, other studios will take advantage of the void and fill that space.
The Bride!
Cast
The Bride! is a 2025 horror romance film written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. The film is set in 1930s Chicago, where Dr. Euphronius creates Frankenstein a companion. Christian Bale stars as Frankenstein alongside Annette Benning, Jessie Buckley, Penélope Cruz, and Peter Sarsgaard.
