Netflix's Marilyn Monroe Biopic 'Blonde' Nabs NC-17 Rating for "Sexual Content"

Fresh off the much-anticipated premiere of her sexy snail film Deep Water, Ana de Armas is making headlines again for another project, her Marilyn Monroe biopic, Blonde. The film's release was pushed from 2021 to 2022, and it has now been announced that it will receive an NC-17 rating due to "some sexual content", making it the first Netflix title to earn that distinction. . Back in February, the film's director Andrew Dominic said that if the film received ratings, it would be "a bunch of horse*t", limiting audiences and availability in theaters.

An adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' 2000 novel, Blonde, is a fictionalized account of the life of film star Marilyn Monroe, starring de Armas as the famous American actress. Blonde is already controversial thanks to its source material: the Oates novel focuses on a number of high-profile anecdotes and rumors about Monroe's life, including her traumatic childhood, her relationship with President John F. Kennedy, and rumors that she had died. There was actually a murder, but now it's likely to raise even more eyebrows because of the rare NC-17 designation.

Last year, Vogue reported that the film's release was delayed because Netflix deemed it "too graphic." The ratings seem to confirm that, as Dominic described, the film's editing cuts were meant to "curb the film's excesses".

The film co-stars the mare of Easttown's Julian Nicholson, who plays Monroe's mother, Gladys, Bobby Cannavale as Joe DiMaggio, Adrien Brody as Arthur Miller and Casper Phillipsson who plays John F. Kennedy. There's still no official premiere date set for Blonde.