It was way back in July of 2019 when we heard that filming had begun on Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, a fantasy thriller from Ana Lily Amirpour, the filmmaker behind the Iranian vampire tale A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night and the crazy post-apocalyptic story The Bad Batch. Now we finally have an update to share about the film. Deadline reports that Saban Films is finalizing a deal to acquire the North American distribution rights for Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, with their plan being to give it a theatrical release sometime this year.
Described as a “stylized fairy tale”, the film is said to “pair strange, violent, and humorous sequences with a range of music from heavy metal to Italian techno.” The story is
a mind-bending adventure set in the swampy neon-lit streets of New Orleans, and inspired by fantasy-adventure movies of the 1980s and ’90s. At its center is a girl with strange and dangerous abilities who escapes from a mental asylum and rejoins the chaos of modern-day civilization, on the hedonistic streets of the French Quarter.
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon stars Kate Hudson (Almost Famous), Craig Robinson (Zack and Miri Make a Porno), Evan Whitten (Mr. Robot), Ed Skrein (Deadpool), and Korean actress Jeon Jong-Seo (The Call), who made her English language debut here.
Josh Lesher and Dylan Weathered produced the film through Le Grisbi Productions, and Adam and Robbie Mirels produced for 141 Entertainment. Erika Olde and Sam Roseme of Black Bicycle, Luke Rodgers of Wiip, and Thorsten Schumacher of Rocket Science served as executive producers. Mike Upton was the line producer.
I couldn’t really get into The Bad Batch, but I enjoyed A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, so I’ve been interested in seeing what Amirpour’s new film would be like. I will definitely be checking out Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon later this year.
Now that this film is ready for release, maybe we’ll get an update on Amirpour’s Cliffhanger “reinvention” soon.