In Lisa Frankenstein, a teenage girl has a hard time fitting in, which isn’t helped by her unorthodox crush on a long-dead young man of the Victorian age. When a horrifying incident reanimates his corpse and draws him to her, Lisa will find a renewed sense of self. The pair begins a journey that leads them down a strange path full of comedy and tragedy as they hope to find love and happiness.
Lisa Frankenstein is written by Diablo Cody and directed by Zelda Willaims. Cody also produced the movie with Mason Novick. Lisa Frankenstein stars Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Liza Soberano, Henry Eikenberry, Joe Chrest, and Carla Gugino.
Zelda Williams’ Lisa Frankenstein: Everything We Know So Far
Zelda Williams will make her directorial debut with Lisa Frankenstein. Little is known about the film but exciting developments are already happening.
Screen Rant interviewed director Zelda Williams and writer Diablo Cody about Lisa Frankenstein. Williams discussed her directorial debut and balancing horror with comedy. Cody explained how Lisa Frankenstein can connect to Jennifer’s Body, her renewed confidence in this genre, as well as the performances of Newton and Sprouse.
Diablo Cody & Zelda Williams Talk Lisa Frankenstein
Screen Rant: Zelda, with this being your directorial debut, what did you learn from the experience that you’d like to take into your next project? What did you learn that maybe will change your approach in the future?
Zelda Williams: I learn on everything I do because I do think especially this early in any career, you want to remain really porous. I think I’ve learned, especially on this one, that likely other projects will not be quite as easygoing and full of friendship as this so I’m prepared in advance. This was full of so many loving people. God, how would I change my tack? I don’t know.
Honestly, this went as smoothly as one can hope with a film, aside from one day with lightning that made it a little tricky but that ironically suits the film. As long as you’re prepared in advance and you got everything squared away, at least when unexpected things happen, you’re prepared to pivot, and I’m very glad that that worked out. I’d hope to continue to do the same.
Brook, you’ve recently shared your desire to continue the Jennifer’s Body story with a potential sequel. I’m curious what you learned from Lisa Frankenstein, which sort of sits in that same coming-of-rage, supernatural genre that you would maybe want to take in the sequel or even if they could be set in the same world.
Diablo Cody: I love the idea of them being set in the same universe, and in terms of what I’m taking from Lisa Frankenstein, I think it’s maybe just a sense of confidence because I didn’t feel confident after making Jennifer’s Body or after writing it, I should say, because the movie wasn’t a commercial success at the time.
It wasn’t a critical success, and so I really began to doubt if I could even write in that genre. And then people rediscovered the movie, which has been amazing. And so now I feel like I was able to write Lisa Frankenstein with a renewed sense of confidence that I would hopefully also take into a sequel because now I know there’s an audience for it.
Horror and comedy are kind of two sides of the same coin. You have set up in then either scare or punch line. So I’m just curious, how did you balance both of those aspects in this movie and find the right tone for when to lean into one or the other?
Zelda Williams: I find them, as you said, to be very similarly under an umbrella of timing, but also taste and tastelessness. Both of those I actually think really suit horror and comedy. So there was a balance of that too. For some people, hyper violence and gore is a really big turnoff, but I think when it comes to comedy, there is still ground to play with there. It falls into a newer, edgier form of slapstick for me. So that was really, really fun to approach in this.
They’re really perfect partners, to be honest. And they’re in an industry that counts them out, and yet they’re the ones that tend to make money. Like horror films in particular are such a reliably loved genre, and the audience is amazing. So I don’t think they should be counted out ever.
What did Cole and Kathryn bring to their roles that wasn’t necessarily on the page?
Diablo Cody: Well, Cole really created something with Zelda because the creature obviously does not have any lines. So I had little things here and there in the stage direction, but the physicality and noises that he created for the creature, that’s all him. And then Kathryn, it’s like I had an idea in my mind of who Lisa might be, but Kathryn is Lisa. I mean, I love this kind of screwball sensibility that she brings to the character, and she’s just amazing.
About Lisa Frankenstein
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.
Check out our other Lisa Frankenstein interview with stars Kathryn Newton & Cole Sprouse.
Source: Screen Rant Plus
Lisa Frankenstein
Lisa Frankenstein is a comedic fantasy-horror film by first-time director Zelda Williams and is a twist on the classic Frankenstein formula. Set in 1989, a high school outcast named Lisa accidentally revives a handsome corpse from the Victorian era and resolves to rebuild him into the perfect man.
- Release Date
- February 9, 2024
- Director
- Zelda Williams
- Cast
- Kathryn Newton , Cole Sprouse , Liza Soberano , Henry Eikenberry , Joe Chrest , Carla Gugino
- Writers
- Diablo Cody
- Studio(s)
- MXN Entertainment , Lollipop Woods
- Distributor(s)
- Focus Features
