Several months ago, word leaked out that Maggie Gyllenhaal was set to write and direct a film called The Bride!, a new take on the concept of the 1935 classic The Bride of Frankenstein (watch it HERE). Once thought to be set up at the Netflix streaming service, this one is actually happening at Warner Bros., and the studio has set the film for a theatrical release, IMAX screens included, on October 3, 2025. Gyllenhaal has assembled a strong cast for the film that includes Penelope Cruz, Annette Bening, Peter Sarsgaard, Julianne Hough, John Magaro, and Jeannie Berlin, with Jessie Buckley as The Bride and Christian Bale as Frankenstein’s Monster… and now The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Gyllenhaal’s brother Jake Gyllenhaal also has a role in the film!
The reveal of Jake Gyllenhaal’s involvement in The Bride! comes in an article that takes a look at Jake’s life and acting career, with a mention that Jake became interested in acting after watching Maggie perform in a junior high school production of South Pacific. Later in the article, it’s said that “Jake’s childhood admiration of Maggie has evolved into a mutual, ride-or-die relationship as adults, and he has a role in her Bride of Frankenstein movie.” The article also points out that when Jake hosted Saturday Night Live in 2007, he wore a short that bore the name of Maggie’s first child, Ramona. When he hosted again in 2022, he wore a shirt that added the name of her second child: Ramona and Gloria. When he hosted last month, he wore a shirt that said “The Bride & Frank,” a nod to the movie his sister is currently working on. As he told The Hollywood Reporter, “This time I was like, ‘What do I do? Oh, I’ll just (namecheck) her other baby.“
Details on the role Jake Gyllenhaal is playing in The Bride! were not shared.
The Bride! has the following synopsis: A lonely Frankenstein travels to 1930s Chicago to seek the aide of a Dr. Euphronius in creating a companion for himself. The two reinvigorate a murdered young woman and the Bride is born. She is beyond what either of them intended, igniting a combustible romance, the attention of the police and a wild and radical social movement.
This isn’t a Universal project, but it wouldn’t be the first Bride of Frankenstein remake to be made by a different company. In 1985, Columbia Pictures brought us another movie simply called The Bride, which starred Sting as Baron Charles Frankenstein, Jennifer Beals as Eva (the bride) and Clancy Brown as Viktor (the monster). A few years ago, it was announced that Scarlett Johansson was going to star in a similar project called Bride for A24 and Apple, but that still hasn’t made it into production.
What do you think of Jake Gyllenhaal joining the cast of his sister’s The Bride!? Let us know by leaving a comment below.