Jennifer’s Body fans may have something to look forward to when Diablo Cody‘s upcoming film Lisa Frankenstein hits theaters.
“I am just declaring that this movie takes place in the same universe,” Cody, 45, who was a writer and producer on both projects, told Deadline on Monday, February 5. “I have decided that. I will not say that you’d see any overt references to that but I’m saying it.”
Jennifer’s Body, which was released in 2009, followed a high school student (Megan Fox) that became demonically possessed following a sacrifice. In order to survive, she had to kill her classmates and eat their flesh. Fox, 37, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, Kyle Gallner, Adam Brody and Chris Pratt starred in the cult-classic.
Cody returned to the horror comedy genre with Lisa Frankenstein, which is inspired by Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel. The movie follows a teen goth girl named Lisa (Kathryn Newton) as she brings to life a handsome corpse from the Victorian era. She decides to build the man of her dreams by using a broken tanning machine to Cole Sprouse‘s character. The couple ultimately fall in love and leave a trail of missing body parts in their wake.
Lisa Frankenstein also stars Liza Soberano, Henry Eikenberry, Joe Chrest and Carla Gugino. The film marks the directorial debut of late comedian Robin Williams‘ daughter Zelda Williams.
During Monday’s red carpet event for Lisa Frankenstein, Cody hinted at plans to reboot Jennifer’s Body. She said that despite the film originally being coined a “commercial and critical disaster,” the outpouring of support in the years since has given her the “final push” that she needed to “actually make it happen.”
“It’s hard to get things made these days,” she noted. According to Cody, she even had reservations about revisiting the genre with Lisa Frankenstein.
“I was nervous to get back into that,” she recalled. “And then this magical thing happened the last few years where that movie found an audience and people began to really appreciate it. 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.”
Cody’s vision also received praise from Newton, 26, and Sprouse, 31, who were thrilled to collaborate on the project.
“When I was growing up, I was a big monster movie guy and I was a big practical effects guy. When I read this script, Zelda and I had been trying to figure out a project to do together for a long time and she was already attached to it,” he recalled in an interview with Screen Rant on Monday. “It hit all of the checkboxes for me. This feels like a love letter to the ’80s and to this nostalgic film that we grew up on.”
Newton, for her part, gushed over the positive experience on set, adding, “It was all on the page. And Zelda let me try things and Cole was always down to try things. I think in this kind of movie, if you say yes you just have to try it all. You have to go for it. You can’t hold back. I don’t think I held back in this movie.”
