Maggie Gyllenhaal Says ‘The Bride’ Test Screenings Criticized Film’s Sexual Violence and Warner Bros. Boss Told Her ‘You Can’t Have Frankenstein Lick Black Vomit Off the Bride’s Neck’

Maggie Gyllenhaal joined The New York Times’ “The Interview” podcast to discuss her latest directorial effort, “The Bride,” and revealed how the studio test screening process took her to task over the movie’s depiction of violence and sexual violence. Gyllenhaal wrote and directed “The Bride,” a revisionist look at “The Bride of Frankenstein” that stars […] Home Film News Mar 3, 2026 2:17pm PT Maggie Gyllenhaal Says ‘The Bride’ Test Screenings Criticized Film’s Sexual Violence and Warner Bros. Boss Told Her ‘You Can’t Have Frankenstein Lick Black Vomit Off the Bride’s Neck’ By Zack Sharf Plus Icon Zack Sharf Digital News Director ZSharf Latest Ryan Gosling’s ‘Project Hail Mary’ Interview Takes Wild Turn After Reporter Gets Stranded on the Side of the Road: ‘Do You Have Help on the Way? Do You Have Water?’ 4 hours ago Cillian Murphy Reacts to ‘Peaky Blinders’ Movie Taking on Nazis: ‘The Last Thing I Want to Be in Is a Preachy Work. Films Should Never Tell You How to Feel. They Should Just Ask Questions’ 7 hours ago ‘The Mummy 4’ Directors Say Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz Wouldn’t Return Unless ‘They Loved the Script’: ‘It’s Beautiful, Scary and Sweeping’ 1 day ago See All Niko Tavernise /© Warner Bros. /Courtesy Everett Collection Maggie Gyllenhaal joined The New York Times’ “The Interview” podcast to discuss her latest directorial effort, “The Bride,” and revealed how the studio test screening process took her to task over the movie’s depiction of violence and sexual violence. Gyllenhaal wrote and directed “The Bride,” a revisionist look at “The Bride of Frankenstein” that stars Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale. “There’s sexual violence. There’s violence. Because it’s a big studio movie, we tested and tested it,” Gyllenhaal said. “We had big screenings in malls, where people came to see it, which I had never been a part of as an actress or a director before. So fascinating. And one of the things that they brought up was the violence: Is it too violent? And I was talking about it with a girlfriend of mine, who said — and she wasn’t being reductive — ‘I wonder if you had been a man making this movie, if you would have had the same response.'” Popular on Variety Related Stories This Vintage Disney Print From 1975 Gets a Revival in New Lilly Pulitzer Collection