It appears that two competing Marilyn Monroe film projects are currently in the works. One, Blonde, to be directed by Andrew Dominik, will star Naomi Watts as Marilyn, and is an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' imaginary Pulitzer Prize-nominated Monroe memoir. This project is set to begin shooting in January 2011 and will chronicle the life of Monroe and her relationships with Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller and John F. Kennedy.

To your left you can see the first picture of Watts as Monroe, a promo shot that Allocine captured at the Cannes Film Festival and was reported by The Playlist Nation.

In our estimation, Watts doesn't quite look the part, at least not in this photo…and is also too thin for the role, unless it's strictly portraying Marilyn from her later Something's Got to Give Days, circa 1962, which evidently, it's not.

We're also dubious about Dominik as a director. His Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford was such a protracted bore of a film, and neither Jesse James, nor Marilyn Monroe, could be considered boring individuals. Disturbed, perhaps, but not boring.

Meanwhile, The Weinstein Company is also developing My Week With Marilyn with filming set to commence in September. Michelle Williams will play Marilyn during the period when Monroe lived in England shooting The Prince and the Showgirl opposite Laurence Olivier. This latter film is being directed by Simon Curtis.

Personally, yours truly is of the opinion that recreating Marilyn Monroe offers a terrific opportunity to employ Avatar tech. Find an actress who can evoke the mannerisms and cadence of Monroe, and then tweak the face digitally to look like the real McCoy. Of course, filmmakers and studios would likely deem it far too expensive for a biopic, or character drama. At least until the cost comes down. Still, we expect that as the tech gets better and the price falls, we'll see a precise rendition of Monroe…or Bogart...or whomever, on the silver screen one day.