The trailer has been revealed for Freakier Friday, and it is good proof that the new movie is going to do something different with it. First based on Mary Rodgers’ book, the Freaky Friday movies originated back in 1976, with a body-swap comedy led by Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster. A 2003 remake of the same name replaced this leading duo with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. Both movies have the same plot, seeing a mom switch places with her teenage daughter, but it is the 2003 film that has really maintained its status in the cultural zeitgeist for modern audiences.
Over 20 years later, the 2003 cast is returning with the sequel movie Freakier Friday. The film will return Curtis and Lohan to their roles, but this time positions the once-teenage Anna as a mother and stepmother-to-be. The film is helmed by Nisha Ganatra, and, in addition to the returning leads, features Chad Michael Murray, Manny Jacinto, Mark Harmon, Julia ʙuттers, Sophie Hammons, Chloe Fineman, and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. The trailer for Freakier Friday was recently released, and it reveals how the sequel film has evolved.
Freaky Friday Was All About The Body Swap Comedy
And Its Sequel Will Double That Element
The original Freaky Friday really emphasized the body-swap element of its comedy. It leaned into the absurdity of a mother and daughter switching places, and resulted in a wholesome journey as Anna and Tess come to understand each other. The body-swap factor has been heavily emphasized in the movie’s legacy, including in the horror spoof Freaky. Freaky takes the familiar premise and adds ᴅᴇᴀᴅly dimensions by showing a teenage girl switching places not with the body of her mother, but a serial killer. This comedic reimagining just goes to show how critical the body-swap part is.
Freaky Friday was also remade in 1995 and in 2018, though these versions were lesser known.
Freakier Friday‘s trailer does include body swaps, but it has increased the chaos. Anna gets to see what it is like to switch with her own teenage daughter, as she and her daughter switch places. However, this is not the only swap that takes place. Tess has now switched places with Lily, Anna’s stepdaughter-to-be. This causes strife for all involved, and will this time see Lohan and Curtis take center stage but with the souls of two teenagers inside their adult bodies.
Freakier Friday Will Up The Stakes With Its Swap
The New Trailer Proves There’s More Going On
Whereas the first movie used the swap device as a way to show the bond between the leads, the second sets it up as a more central plot tool. Anna’s daughter, Harper, and stepdaughter-to-be, Lily, use the body-swap experience as an opportunity to break up their parents, thwarting the wedding. At least in the initial stages of the film, this sets up the body swap element as more of a tool for scheming and plotting than for a simple comedy.
That said, it is still possible that the body-swap device will serve a more emotional, character-centered narrative purpose. While the teenage girls are mostly up to no good in their new bodies in the trailer, it is also clear that they are bonding through this elaborate ploy. This might bring the stepsisters-to-be closer together enough to make them want to keep their families together. The potential to break up the wedding nonetheless ups the stakes of the body-swap comedy.
This Is A Good Sign For The Freaky Friday Legacy Sequel
It Skips A Frequent Sequel Mistake
The way that Freakier Friday is using its body-swap is a good sign for the legacy sequel. Far too often, it seems like sequels like this will just try to rehash the original content with a new cast or an aged-up cast. Curtis and Lohan’s returns were highly emphasized in the movie’s initial marketing, so it seemed like the legacy sequel might risk falling into that trap. However, the choice of the Freakier Friday team definitely seems to be the right idea in that it returns to the basic structures of the original work while still creating fresh ideas and content.
