Lisa Frankenstein, a Focus Features picture and Zelda Williams’ feature-length directorial debut, has begun filming in New Orleans, and the film’s cast has just been named in an exclusive report from Deadline. The cast includes some well-known performers.
Liza Soberano, making her debut in Hollywood with a major film role, is joined by Carla Gugino (Gerald’s Game), Joe Chrest (Stranger Things), rumoured to play the film’s father, and Henry Eikenberry (Euphoria). Kathryn Newton (Freaky) and Cole Sprouse (Riverdale) are the film’s two stars, but the amazing ensemble will also have significant roles. The impending horror-comedy film is a reimagining of the famous Frankenstein narrative, albeit the specific roles the cast will portray have not yet been disclosed.
The Lisa Frankenstein will be set in the 1980s and follow a high school girl as she brings back to life the body of a young Victorian man using a faulty tanning bed to construct the man of her dreams. As the film’s development continues, more information about Lisa Frankenstein is likely to emerge. The 1931 film starring Boris Karloff is still widely regarded as the definitive adaptation of the narrative, but Hollywood has given its fair share of Frankenstein spoofs, including the parody film Young Frankenstein and Tim Burton’s stop-motion cartoon Frankenweenie.
Despite the numerous film adaptations and re-imaginings of the Frankenstein narrative over the past century and a half, Lisa Frankenstein suggests there may be new life in the old tale. Oscar winner for Best Writing, Original Screenplay for Juno Diablo Cody writes the script for Lisa Frankenstein, which is produced by Mason Novick of MXN Entertainment. Production is being supervised by Focus Features’ Michelle Momplaisir, while Jeffrey Lampert is serving as executive producer. Williams’ directorial debut is shaping up to be an interesting picture to look out for, thanks to the ensemble cast of brilliant performers acting in a film with an unusual idea.
A Netflix horror miniseries titled The Fall of the House of Usher, based on Edgar Allen Poe’s story of the same name will feature Gugino with Lisa Frankenstein. Starring in Killers of the Flower Moon alongside Martin Scorsese is actor Chrest, who portrayed Ted Wheeler on Stranger Things. The Crowded Room, an Apple TV+ original, will include Eikenberry.
Due to the fact that the development of Lisa Frankenstein has just begun, there is no confirmed release date at this time.