NAOMI WATTS AS MARILYN MONROE

Naomi Watts has been cast as sceen icon Marilyn Monroe in a new biopic.Watts will begin shooting Blonde — based on the best-selling book by Joyce Carol Oates — in January. The book is a 700 page fictionalized account of Monroe’s life that caused quite a but of controversy when it arrived on booksellers’ shelves in 2000. There were numerous chapters detailing salacious details on her sex life and cryptically referred to the men in Monroe’s life only by nicknames – “The Ex-Athlete”, “The Playwright” and “The President” — references to three great loves of Marilyn’s life Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller, and John F Kennedy.One particular telling snippet saw Marilyn offering a famed movie boss sexual favors in exchange for a leading role.The biopic will chronicle Marilyn’s humble beginnings as Norma Jean Baker to her captivating life as a sex symbol. And the effort already has a lensman — Blonde will be directed by Andrew Dominik, whose credits include Brad Pitt’s 2008 western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.