Blonde is out now in select cinemas ahead of its much-anticipated Netflix release next Wednesday (September 28), and it's already caused quite a stir.
Directed by Andrew Dominick, Blonde is the latest Hollywood biopic about a pop-culture icon, with Knives Out and No Time to Die star Ana de Armas in the lead role as the iconic Marilyn Monroe.
The fictionalised production has already faced a backlash regarding the casting of a Cuban actress as the quintessential blonde bombshell. While its NC-17 rating in the US due to its graphic sexual content caused controversy, all of which has only heightened since Blonde split critics following its world premiere at Venice International Film Festival.
But when it comes to depicting history for modern audiences, this is not the first time in recent years that Hollywood biopics have faced a backlash ahead of – and during – their release.
1. House of Gucci
From ropey accents to camp performances, Ridley Scott's crime drama about the assassination of one-time Gucci boss Maurizio Gucci (by his wife Patrizia Reggiani) was practically denounced by the Gucci family.
Their statement said: "The film's production did not bother to consult the heirs before describing Aldo Gucci – president of the company for 30 years – and the members of the Gucci family as thugs who were ignorant and insensitive to the world around them, attributing entirely fabricated attitudes and conduct to the protagonists of the notorious events."
In addition, Reggiani was reportedly upset that Lady Gaga had not approached her in preparation for the role. The singer addressed these claims, saying she had no interest in 'colluding' with the convicted criminal.
It appears that Gaga didn't need the extra insight as she received multiple Lead Actress nominations for her performance, including BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild.
2. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Quentin Tarantino's ode to 1960s Hollywood may have been a much-anticipated return for the filmmaker after a four-year break, but his creative direction and representation of certain characters caused ire.
Among its controversies is the depiction of Bruce Lee (Mike Moh), which was deemed offensive and, in the eyes of his daughter Shannon Lee, characterises the cinematic icon as "arrogant and an a**hole".
The portrayal was so unwelcome that she reportedly appealed against its release in China. Her appeal was ultimately successful, as Tarantino refused to cut the film.
3. Bohemian Rhapsody
Following the story of rock band Queen to late frontman Freddie Mercury, Bohemian Rhapsody is the highest-grossing musical biopic of all time. However, even with its stellar success including Rami Malek winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, it doesn't dilute the movie's controversy.
The biopic's original director Bryan Singer was fired mid-production due to an unexpected absence from set. There were also reports, which Singer denied, about on-set clashes with Malek.
British director Dexter Fletcher was hired to take on the directorial duties (paving the way for his work on Rocketman), but Singer still received a director credit from the Directors Association of America.
Meanwhile, key elements of Freddie Mercury's personal life, such as the ambiguity of his sexuality and his relationship with Jim Hatton, faced criticism of being 'sterilised' (some referred to this as 'straight-washing') to ensure a family-friendly film.
4. Rocketman
Dexter Fletcher went from Queen to Elton John with Rocketman, which followed the pop icon (played by Taron Egerton) from his early family to his rehabilitation from alcohol and substance abuse.
Due to the success of Bohemian Rhapsody, there was reportedly pressure from Paramount to remove a scene involving John in bed naked with his lover/manager John Reid (Richard Madden) to ensure a PG-13 rating.
The scene was retained, but any references involving homosexuality and drugs were cut in Russia and it was also censored in Malaysia, as well as being banned in Samoa.
Meanwhile, the depiction of Elton John's father Stanley (Steven Mackintosh), who was shown to be unaffectionate and short-tempered, was disputed by real-life family members. While John remembered his dad as an "unemotional man", his half-brother Geoff Dwight said it was "a million miles away from what Dad was like".
5. Green Book
This audience-pleaser about the unlikely friendship between African-American pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) and his chauffeur Frank Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) won numerous awards in 2018 and 2019, including Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor prize for Ali.
Despite its acclaim, Shirley's family condemned the movie as they considered it a misrepresentation of his and Vallelonga's relationship. They said they were not contacted by studio representatives until after development started, so Green Book suffered from a lack of context and subsequent accuracy.
In addition, the film seemingly glosses over the racism of the 1960s Deep South and the fear and danger of being a Black man during this era of American history.
A statement from Shirley family member Maxine C Leftwich said: "Our family is boycotting the film due to the implicit and the explicit affronts we have endured while critics have hailed the film for its artistic brilliance and its timely juxtaposition to the rise in hate crimes, White Nationalism, and neo-Nazism in the contemporary United States."
6. Nina
Starring Zoe Saldaña, Nina is the 2016 unauthorised biopic about singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone's rise to fame and relationship with her manager Clifton Henderson (David Oyelowo).
Most of the controversy surrounding Cynthia Mort's Nina stems from the casting of Afro-Latina actress Saldaña, who had – by this point – become a bankable star with her work on the Star Trek films, Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy.
However, Simone's daughter Simone Kelly criticised Saldaña's casting and stated that: "Appearance-wise this is not the best choice". While Saldaña had prosthetics and dark make-up applied to look more similar to the artist, this only added fuel to an already growing fire among racial justice advocates.
Needless to say, Simone's estate condemned the movie and Saldana even apologised for her role in Nina in 2020, saying: "I should never have played her… she deserved better."
7. Richard Jewell
This 2019 biopic by Clint Eastwood was based on a Vanity Fair article about the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Georgia, where security guard Richard Jewell finds a bomb during the 1996 Olympics, only to become a suspect under federal investigation.
The movie came under controversy over its depiction of journalist Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde), who originally reported that the FBI was investigating the eponymous Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser) over the bombing.
In the movie, Scruggs is shown to have slept with FBI agent Tom Shaw (Jon Hamm) in exchange for information. However, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) editor-in-chief Kevin Riley deemed this incident as "false and malicious", while others stated that Richard Jewell maintains a sexist trope of female journalists exchanging sex for information.
Despite Warner Bros adding a disclaimer to the movie about the movie's events and characters at the urging of the AJC, the studio defended Richard Jewell and dismissed the paper's claims about Scruggs as "baseless".
Screenwriter Billy Ray stood by his screenplay, stating that the focus was not on Scruggs but "the heroism and hounding of Richard Jewell, and what rushed reporting can do to an innocent man".
Blonde will be available to stream on Netflix on September, 28.
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