Netflix Drops First Trailer For Marilyn Monroe Film With Rare Adults Only Rating

The teaser trailer for Netflix's Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde has just dropped. Watch below:

The flick, which stars Ana de Armas, caused a stir earlier this year after it was revealed to be Netflix's first original film with an NC-17 rating, meaning it's not suitable for viewers under 17 years of age.

This also means it will likely be rated an 18 in the UK.

Director Andrew Dominik previously noted that he expected as much for the age rating due to the film's explicit sexual content.

Speaking to Screen Daily, he said: "It’s a demanding movie. If the audience doesn’t like it, that’s the f***ing audience’s problem. It’s not running for public office."

The director went on to add: "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."

Based on Joyce Carol Oates' bestselling novel of the same name, the film chronicles the inner life of Hollywood's most legendary star, although the author insists that the source material is a work of fiction and should not be regarded as a biography.

Per Netflix's official synopsis: "The film is a fictional portrait of the model, actress and singer during the ’50s and ’60s, told through the modern lens of celebrity culture."

It's safe to say Oates is already a fan of the big screen adaptation, writing on Twitter back in August 2020: "I have seen the rough cut of Andrew Dominick's adaptation & it is startling, brilliant, very disturbing & [perhaps most surprisingly] an utterly 'feminist' interpretation... not sure that any male director has ever achieved anything this."

(just a parenthetical aside--I have seen the rough cut of Andrew Dominick's adaptation & it is startling, brilliant, very disturbing & [perhaps most surprisingly] an utterly "feminist" interpretation... not sure that any male director has ever achieved anything this.) https://t.co/zUubjH5yqV

— Joyce Carol Oates (@JoyceCarolOates) August 10, 2020

Knives Out’s Armas has also received high praise for her portrayal as the blonde bombshell, including from Jamie Lee Curtis, whose father Tony Curtis starred with Monroe in Some Like It Hot.

"I dropped to the floor. I couldn't believe it. Ana was completely gone. She was Marilyn," she said.

Discussing how she got into the role with Vanity Fair, Armas said: "It wasn’t just about transforming physically to look the part, it was about understanding her emotional life, how intelligent she was, and how fragile."

In a separate interview, she told The Sunday Times that it took 'nine months of dialect coaching, and practising, and some ADR (automated dialogue replacement) sessions' to perfect Monroe's voice.

Blonde was initially due for release in 2021 but faced a number of delays - but the long wait is nearly over, as Netflix has confirmed it will drop on 23 September.