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Credit: DisneyIn 1976, Disney turned a popular children’s book into a hit film starring Jodie Foster. Freaky Friday tells the story of Ellen and Annabel Andrews, a mother and daughter who just can’t see eye-to-eye on anything.
On Friday the 13th, both Ellen and Annabel wish that they could switch places, so the other could see what it is like to walk in their shoes. Through the magic and mystique of Friday the 13th, the switch actually happens, and Ellen and Annabel see exactly what the other person goes through.
Freaky Friday was a hit with fans, and in 2003, Disney decided to take the classic tale and give it a more modern retelling.
The new film starred Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan as Tess and Anna Coleman. Tess is a no-nonsense therapist, while Anna has a more wild side and loves to perform with her band, PinkSlip. Anna finds that writing and performing music helps her deal with the death of her father, and she feels like she can’t talk to her mom without arguing.
One night, Anna, Tess, Anna’s brother Harry, and Tess’s boyfriend Ryan go out for Chinese food. Of course, Anna and Tess get into a fight, but this time, the restaurant owner’s mother gives them fortune cookies. They read the fortune cookies at the same time and, through ancient Chinese magic, suddenly swap bodies.
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Disney’s Freaky Friday remake performed even better than the original film, taking in more than $160 million at the box office, while the film’s budget was only $26 million.
Despite the movie’s success, it would be 21 years before Disney decided to make a sequel, and thankfully, both Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan were more than happy to reprise their roles.
In fact, Jamie Lee Curtis said that she had long been pushing Disney to make a sequel. She said that she had been asked by the press so many times about a Freaky Friday sequel that she decided to call Disney CEO Bob Iger. Iger was reportedly more than ready to make a sequel, and just about one year after talking to Curtis, filming on Freakier Friday began.
When watching movies as iconic as Freaky Friday, it’s always exciting to see cameos that honor the original stories. And Freakier Friday director Nisha Ganatra wanted the new movie to have one heck of a cameo.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ganatra revealed that she had begged Jodie Foster to return to the franchise. Unfortunately, the Oscar-winning actress had zero interest.
“We begged her. She’s not going to do it,” Ganatra says of Foster.
The filmmaker explains that she “never found out why” Foster declined to star in the movie, but does reveal some ideas on how the Oscar-winning actress would have appeared in the movie if she had agreed.
“I think we were going to make her the principal at the school,” Ganatra recalls, adding that there was also talk of replacing Anna’s troublesome teacher, Mr. Bates, with Foster “when we didn’t know if [actor Stephen Tobolowsky] would come back.”
Ganatra continues: “Honestly, we tried everything. We were like, ‘What about this?'” Still, Foster turned the part down.
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While Jodie Foster might not be making a cameo, the new film will honor her in its own way. Ganatra said that Anna’s (Lohan) daughter, Harper, will have “fun, amused, cool” vibes that will be similar to the ones Foster’s Annabel had in 1976.
In addition to Curtis and Lohan, several other actors from the 2003 film will be returning. Chad Michael Murray, who played Anna’s love interest, Jake, will be back, along with Mark Harmon as Ryan. Christina Vidal and Haley Hudson will also return as Maddie and Peg, Anna’s high school bandmates.
Freakier Friday premieres in theaters nationwide on August 8.
Would you have loved to see Jodie Foster make an appearance in Freakier Friday? Who are you most looking forward to seeing back on the big screen? Let us know in the comments!