100 Nights Of Hero: Director & Star Discuss Adapting Emot...

How 2025's Best-Reviewed Fantasy Movie Adapted Its Emotional Graphic Novel Explained By Director & Star

Maika Monroe's Cherry on her knees praying in 100 Nights of Hero

By Tatiana Hullender Published 25 minutes ago As a graduate of Columbia University in New York City, Tatiana studied theater and comparative literature. She has been passionate about all manner of storytelling from Jane Austen adaptations to anime. Aside from writing for Screen Rant, she co-hosts podcasts: The Flash Podcast and Ladies With Gumption. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Isabel Greenberg turned an iconic tale from One Thousand and One Nights into the emotional graphic novel 100 Nights of Hero, which has made its way to the screen thanks to Julia Jackman and a star-studded ensemble. The film revolves around a woman who, left behind at a remote castle by her neglectful husband, finds herself in a chaotic emotional web involving her husband's seductive friend and her titular loyal maid.

For her 100 Nights of Hero ensemble, Jackman has put together a cast of celebrated performers, including Longlegs' Maika Monroe as the conflicted Cherry, Deadpool & Wolverine's Emma Corrin as the titular maid, and Masters of the Universe's Nicholas Galitzine as the charming Manfred, as well as Amir El-Masry, Charli XCX, Richard E. Grant and Felicity Jones. Having made its world premiere at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival, the movie quickly became the best-reviewed fantasy film of the year, initially holding a 96% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes before slowly dropping to its current 80% rating.

Ahead of the movie's wide release, ScreenRant's Tatiana Hullender interviewed Julia Jackman and Nicholas Galitzine to discuss 100 Nights of Hero. In reflecting on her approach to adapting Greenberg's graphic novel, and the original Middle Eastern tale, the writer/director recalled feeling it was both "exciting" and "overwhelming" to be stepping into the world of the story, particularly as she was "trying to continue a legacy of exciting people's imaginations."

Comparing it to "a Rorschach test in some ways" as audiences have turned to "their own imaginations" and looked back on "the stories that inspired them" when reading the source materials, Jackman found her biggest goal was to "create this very large-feeling world in a very indie, small, compact, streamlined production."

Looking back on her visual approach to the film compared to Greenberg's graphic novel, Jackman admitted she loved 100 Nights of Hero so much that it was "as difficult to let go of it as it was a fantastic world of inspiration." Recalling having "a lot of freedom to create my own world," the writer/director revealed this also led her to "make some changes," the majority of which were inspired by how the world has changed in the nine years since the novel came out:

Julia Jackman: The graphic novel was released in 2016, and the world has changed since then; so much has happened. In order to do it justice and honor that progression you're talking about, some changes had to be made. I was able to think about, "What would a villain look like now? What would this love story look like on film, where you don't have endless pages and endless locations?"

Nicholas Galitzine's Manfred smiling slightly at Cherry in 100 Nights of Hero

One of the key changes she cited in 100 Nights of Hero's translation from the page to the screen was "the type of villain that Manfred was." Pointing out how he's "weirdly progressive for the time that he was in," particularly given he was a listener, "something that men rarely do in this world." However, as Jackman quips, "it's for all the wrong reasons," teasing that the film shows that Manfred "wants to pretend to be a certain person for this woman," only to subsequently "find himself sucked in and altered a little bit."

This desire to change what kind of villain Manfred is also led Jackman to "want to humanize him a little bit," in order to explore the idea that "we're all the product of the world that we grew up in," which ultimately leads to the fact "nobody actually thinks they're a bad person." She does denote, though, that this humanization "isn't an excuse or a justification" for his actions, but instead raises the stakes for the other characters:

Julia Jackman: Manfred was raised in a world that was very much, "You absolutely should be like this, it's good for you." Actually, it makes a betrayal hit a lot harder when someone is humanized. More often than not, people can be conflicted and then just be cowards. It's like, "I've changed, but not quite enough." That feels more real than just a sort of, "I'm bad throughout and unaltered by this," kind of villainy.

Jackman & Galitzine Also Wanted To Make The Movie's Love Stories More Complex

ScreenRant: Nicholas, what was your way into Manfred? Because he is at once comedic, but also full of commentary. He is the living embodiment of the society that the story takes place in.

Nicholas Galitzine: Completely. And I think that I've always found the nature versus nurture aspect of characters to be really fascinating because, immediately, we get a sense of what it is to live in this society. I think it was always important for me as an actor to understand that Manfred is very much a product of his upbringing, but it doesn't necessarily have to define him. Certainly, I've felt that as a man in a lot of ways. I'm letting him be the worst version of himself at first, but really letting that facade of his very entrenched views start to wither and be affected by these wonderful stories, and these wonderful people that he's spending all this time with.

ScreenRant: Julia, obviously, the heart of the story is the relationship between Cherry and Hero. Maika Monroe and Emma Corrin are amazing together, but can you talk about how the three of you crafted that dynamic on screen? Especially given the ending is so bittersweet, and yet hopeful, even if it's the afterlife.

Julia Jackman: Yeah, thank you for realizing that they're not literally rescued by the literal moon. [Laughs] I thought a lot about that because, in the graphic novel, they're pretty fixed. They're in love throughout, they're a couple, and they stay a couple. The ending was the bit that I stayed most true to, because I think it's the heart of the graphic novel, and I think [author Isabel Greenberg] would agree. But I guess I wanted to start them in a queer canon place, where you're in love but have no idea. Because in this world, why would you be in touch with something that you can't possibly have? What would be the point? You're never asked what you want; no one really cares. And on top of that, if you did think about it, you might drive yourself mad because you can't have it. I decided to drop them in that place, at least from Cherry's perspective. She's like, "I'm completely straight, I just think my friend is incredibly beautiful and think about her all the time and hang on her every word. She's hilarious and wonderful, but I love men."

Emma Corrin as Hero looking to the left in shock in 100 Nights of Hero
I liked catching them in various degrees of denial: Hero, because of her station in life, and Cherry, because it's simply not the done thing. It was fun to craft a love arc for them, and I really wanted to capture their intimacy even more. Chemistry was very important, but even more so the fact that they had an intimacy in a world where she had to play a role constantly. The way the love started was that this was someone she could open up to when the door to her bedroom closed. I'm really setting myself up to disappoint people. [Laughs] It's not raunchy when the door closes, but behind closed doors, she can even just make the facial expressions that are actually hers. She can gesture in a way that's natural for her. Think of how big a deal that is in a world like this.

ScreenRant: Continuing in the casting department vein, it feels like the year of Charli XCX, cinematically speaking. What was that casting process like? Did you find out she wanted to be in the film first, or were you envisioning Charli XCX in the story?

Julia Jackman: Absolutely, once I found out, I was. But I had no idea that she was interested. Her lovely agent, Ruby Kaye, was also a big champion of the film. She basically got in touch, saying, "What do you think?" I met Charli in a hotel before she played Glastonbury to just talk about the story. I knew that she wanted to be involved in some way, and I knew that I was excited about that, but we were just going to meet and see what felt organic. I already had an inkling that she might be a great Rosa, and then when I met her, it really cemented that for me. Luckily, she agreed and came on board.

100 Nights of Hero hits theaters on December 5.

100 Nights of Hero

Like Follow Followed PG-13 Fantasy Romance Release Date December 5, 2025 Runtime 90 minutes Director Julia Jackman

Cast

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Emma Corrin Hero
Nicholas Galitzine Manfred
Maika Monroe Cherry
Amir El-Masry Jerome

Writers Julia Jackman, Isabel Greenberg Producers Nicholas Galitzine, Grant S. Johnson Main Genre Fantasy Genres Fantasy, Romance Executive Producer(s) Nicholas Galitzine Powered by

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