At one time, Watcher director Chloe Okuno was attached to direct the fourth entry in Netflix’s R.L. Stine-inspired Fear Street franchise – but while Fear Street: Prom Queen has made its way out into the world without her involvement (the movie ended up being directed by Matthew Palmer), Okuno has been busy getting another genre project set up. It’s called Brides and was meant to reunite her with Watcher star Maika Monroe, but now Deadline reports that Monroe ran into scheduling conflicts with her work on the Colleen Hoover adaptation Reminders of Him and has had to drop out the project. She has been replaced as the lead of Brides by Olivia Cooke, whose credits include Bates Motel and House of the Dragon.
Last year, Cooke was attached to star in a horror comedy called The Scurry and had to drop out due to scheduling issues (she was replaced by Ella Purnell), so it’s interesting to see her get the chance to step in for someone else so soon after that happened.
Scripted by Okuno, Brides draws inspiration from Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. Set in 1960s Italy, it will show us what happens when Sally Bishop (Cooke) and her husband travel to a remote villa in the wake of Sally’s nervous breakdown. The villa’s owner, a mysterious count, takes a peculiar interest in Sally. But he gets far more than he anticipated when Sally’s feminist chaos is added to his perfect, violent Eden of vampire brides.
The project is described as being a “gothic, glamorous, and gory tale that will flip Bram Stoker’s narrative on its head, exploring the struggle between societal repression and carnal desire.”
Anthony Bregman and Stefanie Azpiazu are producing Brides for Likely Story. Bregman previously provided the following statement: “Brides is set to redefine the horror genre with Choe Okuno’s unique blend of feminist themes and gory visuals. The script is dynamic and unsettling in all the best ways. Chloe always brings such dread and complexity to her characters, and we can’t wait to work with her and Maika to bring Sally to life or to un-death as the case may be.” Neon will be giving the film a theatrical release.
What do you think of Olivia Cooke replacing Maika Monroe in Brides? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
