Blonde trailer: Ana de Armas transforms into Marilyn Monroe in the film’s first official preview

The first official trailer for Blonde has been released, showcasing Ana de Armas fully transforming into Marilyn Monroe for the upcoming highly-anticipated Netflix release.

Per the official synopsis from Netflix, “Based on the bestselling novel by Joyce Carol Oates, Blonde boldly reimagines the life of one of Hollywood’s most enduring icons, Marilyn Monroe. From her volatile childhood as Norma Jeane, through her rise to stardom and romantic entanglements, Blonde blurs the lines of fact and fiction to explore the widening split between her public and private selves. Written and directed by Andrew Dominik, the film boasts a cast led by Ana de Armas and featuring Bobby Cannavale, Adrien Brody, Julianne Nicholson, Xavier Samuel, and Evan Williams.”

Blonde gained a bit of controversy last year when it was announced that the film was delayed until 2022. While not much of a reason was given for the film’s delay, some insiders were surprised because they believed that Netflix was potentially gearing the film up for a bit of an Oscar push during awards season. That is when rumors began surfacing online that a major reason behind the shift was that Netflix wasn’t too happy with director Andrew Dominik’s first cut of the film. 

If that was true, Netflix should’ve known what they were getting into with director Andrew Dominik. His sensibilities are of the arthouse variety, and anyone that knows his work knows he’s not making anything we’d expect. This is the man behind The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Killing Them Softly. He’s a director of a particular taste, but he connects with cinephiles that respect his work because he’s unique and a bit offbeat. I mean, the director described Blonde as “a really sprawling, emotional nightmare fairy-tale type movie.” You can tell from that statement alone that this isn’t going to be your traditional biopic.

Blonde had been in development since 2010, and actresses like Jessica Chastain and Naomi Watts were in consideration for the project before Ana de Armas landed the role. In perhaps another telling moment, Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Fremaux stated in an interview with “Deadline” that he had invited Blonde to screen out-of-competition at the 2021 festival, but Netflix passed. It appears Netflix is all-in on promoting the release now with this new teaser and Ana de Armas also seems pumped about people seeing this new take on Marilyn Monroe. In the Netflix press release regarding the film, de Armas says, “Andrew’s ambitions were very clear from the start — to present a version of Marilyn Monroe’s life through her lens. He wanted the world to experience what it actually felt like to not only be Marilyn, but also Norma Jeane. I found that to be the most daring, unapologetic, and feminist take on her story that I had ever seen.”

Did YOU like the trailer for Blonde? The movie hits Netflix globally on September 23, 2022. You can check out the film’s official key art below!