Posted in: Focus Features, Movies | Tagged: diablo cody, Lisa Frankenstein

Lisa Frankenstein: A Faulty Tanning Bed Creates The Perfect Man

Lisa Frankenstein director Diablo Cody talks about how the film subverts the genre by creating the perfect man instead of the perfect woman via a faulty tanning bed.

While the Christmas season will be spent examining the trope of bringing back someone from the dead in Poor Things, that idea isn't going anywhere as we head into the new year. Frankenstein stories, the idea of bringing people back and subverting our expectations for a story that helped define an entire genre, have become extremely popular in the last couple of years. Lisa Frankenstein is looking to follow in those footsteps. It is the directorial debut of Zelda Williams and is written by Diablo Cody. Cody made a splash into the horror scene with Jennifer's Body, which was destroyed both critically and commercially when it was released, but people have come to love the film as time has passed. Perhaps that is why Cody is returning to this genre with Lisa Frankenstein, and she is, of course, subverting the genre in her own way. In this case, as she explained to Empire, it means turning the concept of "creating the perfect woman" to "creating the perfect man."

"It was funny to me how the whole Frankenstein narrative was co-opted in the '80s by movies like Weird Science where they were like, 'What if we could create the perfect woman?' You see that theme across genres, and I felt like nobody was making a 'building a man' movie except The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which I love and which we reference in the film," she explained.

We've seen the ideas of a classic trope or even a classic story combined with horror to make a horror comedy. Warm Bodies was essentially Romeo & Juliet but with zombies. So, while the ground that Lisa Frankenstein is looking to explore isn't exactly new, it's always fun ground to wade into again. When it came to the story, Cody said, "I thought: 'What if a teenage girl had the ultimate sensitive guy who can't talk? What would that look like, and how would we animate him?' Then, once I thought of [a faulty] tanning bed, we were off to the races." Faulty tanning bed? Sounds like people with Final Destination related PTSD might have to contend with yet another movie ruining the concept of tanning beds for them. The cast for Lisa Frankenstein also looks pretty awesome, so we'll have to see how this one works out.

Lisa Frankenstein: Summary, Release Date, Cast List

A coming of RAGE love story from acclaimed writer Diablo Cody (Jennifer's Body) about a misunderstood teenager and her high school crush, who happens to be a handsome corpse. After a set of playfully horrific circumstances bring him back to life, the two embark on a murderous journey to find love, happiness… and a few missing body parts along the way.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Focus Features' upcoming horror-comedy Lisa Frankenstein, written by Academy Award® winning scribe Diablo Cody (Jennifer's Body), will be released in theaters on February 9, 2024. Lisa Frankenstein was directed by Zelda Williams in her feature directorial debut.

The film was produced by Mason Novick and Diablo Cody, who have previously collaborated on films including Tully, Young Adult, Jennifer's Body, and Juno, which Cody earned an Oscar® for Best Original Screenplay. Jeffrey Lampert served as executive producer. Lisa Frankenstein stars Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Liza Soberano, Henry Eikenberry, Joe Chrest, and Carla Gugino. Focus is distributing Lisa Frankenstein in the U.S., with Universal Pictures International handling international distribution.

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