Maggie Gyllenhaal Says ‘The Bride’ Test Screenings Criticized Film’s Sexual Violence and Warner Bros. Boss Told Her ‘You Can’t Have Frankenstein Lick Black Vomit Off the Bride’s Neck’

Maggie Gyllenhaal joined The New York Times’ “The Interview” podcast to discuss her latest directorial effort, “The Bride” and revealed how the studio test screening process took her to task over the movie’s depiction of violence and sexual violence. Gyllenhaal wrote and directed “The Bride,” a revisionist look at “The Bride of Frankenstein” that stars Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale.

“There’s sexual violence. There’s violence. Because it’s a big studio movie, we tested and tested it,” Gyllenhaal said. “We had big screenings in malls, where people came to see it, which I had never been a part of as an actress or a director before. So fascinating. And one of the things that they brought up was the violence: Is it too violent? And I was talking about it with a girlfriend of mine, who said — and she wasn’t being reductive — ‘I wonder if you…