Screenwriter Diablo Cody says she’s interested in rebooting the 2009 cult horror comedy, Jennifer’s Body. “I never lost my passion for that world,” she says.
Diablo Cody’s returning to the horror comedy genre this year with Lisa Frankenstein, directed by Zelda Williams. As its name implies, it’s another modern spin on Mary Shelley’s gothic tale, with Kathryn Newton starring as a young woman who revives the corpse of a Victorian gentleman and proceeds to turn the creature into her ideal lover.
In an interview with Deadline, Cody has revealed – perhaps half-jokingly – that Lisa Frankenstein takes place “in the same universe” as her earlier horror comedy, Jennifer’s Body, released in 2009. There won’t be any obvious nods to that film, though, so it sounds as though this is something Cody had in the back of her mind as she was writing rather than a concerted attempt to create a franchise.
The more intriguing bit of the interview, though, comes from Cody’s revelation that she wants to return more directly to Jennifer’s Body with some form of reboot.
“I’ve been trying for the last couple of years to get this [reboot] going,” Cody said, “so I’m hoping that the fact that so many people have been asking me about this this week might be the final push I need to actually make it happen.”
Directed by Karyn Kusama, Jennifer’s Body starred Megan Fox as highschooler Jennifer, whose demonic possession causes her to murder and eat her classmates one by one. Amanday Seyfried, JK Simmons, Chris Pratt and Amy Sedaris were also among the cast.
The film received some surprisingly lukewarm reviews at the time (Cody now describes it as a “commercial and critical disaster,” which seems a bit harsh) but has rightly been reassessed as something of a classic.
“…this magical thing happened the last few years where that movie found an audience and people began to really appreciate it,” Cody said of that earlier film. “And it gave me the confidence to say, ‘You know what? I never lost my passion for that world and I want to do another one.’ So, I’m here.”
Lisa Frankenstein is out in UK cinemas on 1st March 2024.
