In a massive shakeup yesterday, Warner Bros. Studios took a look at its slate of upcoming movies and decided to rearrange a lot of things, which unfortunately is bad news for horror fans, as Maggie Gyllenhall’s The Bride! has now been pushed back to 2026. Starring Christian Bale as Frankenstein’s monster, the film was originally slated to be released on Oct. 3, 2025, then got bumped up to Sept. 26, and now Variety notes that it won’t be coming out until March 6, 2026.

Set in 1930s Chicago, The Bride! is a musical-horror hybrid that sees Frankenstein ask Dr. Euphronius to help create a companion. They give life to a murdered woman as the Bride, sparking romance, police interest, and radical social change. Starring Jessie Buckley (Chernobyl, Fargo) as the titular Bride, the film also features the likes of Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, and Annette Bening.

Inspired by Frankenstein, the horror-comedy Frankenhooker was given a very odd and unprecedented rating on release.

Gyllenhaal herself is an accomplished actress, and while The Bride! is only her second outing as a director, her first time behind the camera was a massive success. The 2021 psychological drama The Lost Daughter garnered a ton of critical acclaim, won a slew of awards, and currently holds a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Unfortunately, things are off to a rocky start for The Bride!, as early test screenings of the movie have apparently caused turmoil behind the scenes, with one person from the film’s production company noting that it was “irresponsible” for Gyllenhaal to have been given “anything more than $15 million to make the movie.” Word has it the overall budget for The Bride! comes in close to $100 million dollars.

While some believe the release shift for The Bride! has everything to do with its lackluster test screenings, this is not the case according to insiders, who believe the change has to do with director Guillermo del Toro releasing his own version of Frankenstein later this year with Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi. The highly anticipated Gothic sci-fi horror film is set to hit Netflix in November, and apparently the folks at Warner Bros. believe that releasing The Bride! just a couple of months before it could prove detrimental to its success, as they feel all eyes will be on the del Toro film, and not theirs.

Variety notes that those same insiders believe March to be a better date for The Bride!, as other Warner Bros. tent pole films have done well during that time. Franchises such as Dune and Legendary’s Monsterverse (which Warner Bros. distributes) have all found success with their March release dates in the past, so the hope is The Bride! will have a similar windfall at the box office.

Time will tell, of course, but one can’t help but be suspicious of things following the poor test screenings for The Bride! Will it undergo some re-shoots given the extra time it now has in post-production? We’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, if you really want to do yourself a favor, check out James Whale’s original 1935 film, Bride of Frankenstein, which is available to rent or purchase on all VOD platforms.

Source: Variety