The upcoming Marilyn Monroe biopic “Blonde,” starring Ana de Armas, finally has a movie rating.
The Netflix flick — which is set to debut on the streaming service later this year — will be rated an NSFW NC-17. Rumors of the rating first circulated last summer.
Director Andrew Dominik discussed the movie during a chat with Screen Daily and said, “It’s an NC-17 movie about Marilyn Monroe. It’s kind of what you want, right? I want to go and see the NC-17 version of the Marilyn Monroe story.”
The movie is based on Joyce Carol Oates’ 2000 book of the same name. Previously, there was a scene that reportedly involved menstruation and oral sex, but Dominik said that was just a “hilarious” rumor.
However, the “Killing Them Softly” director confirmed that a rape scene with a studio executive will be shown on screen.
“It’s a demanding movie,” Dominik said. “If the audience doesn’t like it, that’s the f–king audience’s problem. It’s not running for public office.”
Dominik added that he hopes that the film will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May with an out-of-competition slot, which means the movie will be screened but not eligible for awards. “[Netflix] said, ‘We’ll put the movie in theaters for eight months before we bring it out on the platform,’” the director said.
According to Dominik, Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux “loves” the new biopic. Frémaux told Deadline back in June that “Blonde” was supposed to be a part of the 2021 Cannes lineup.
The flick was filmed in 2019 and had been in development since 2010. Stars such as Jessica Chastain and Naomi Watts were once attached.
“It’s beautiful, I saw it, and I invited [Netflix] films [to show] out of competition,” Frémaux explained to Deadline. “Netflix doesn’t want to come to Cannes, but I invited them anyway and alas … It’s important: It’s not us refusing Netflix movies, it’s Netflix who doesn’t want or can’t … They want to come in competition, but films that are part of the competition must be released [theatrically] in France.”
Dominik also told Screen Daily that “Blonde” wouldn’t have been able to be produced without the #MeToo movement, “because nobody was interested in that sort of s–t, what it’s like to be an unloved girl, or what it’s like to go through the Hollywood meat grinder.”
He then praised de Armas’ performance, saying that while there was “work involved” in making the the “Knives Out” actress “sound American,” she is “f–king amazing” as the 1950s film icon.
“The one thing nobody’s going to complain about is [de Armas’] performance,” Dominik said.
Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale and Julianne Nicholson are also starring in the drama.
