By Trey Voegtlin
Freakier Friday: Freaky Friday 2 Officially On It’s Way
The long awaited Freaky Friday sequel has officially completed filming and is set to release 2025. From what we know, it seems most of the original cast of the 2003 movie will be included in the sequel, with new names such as Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Julie Butters, Sophia Hammons and Manny Jancito joining. Even within that, it’s been noted that they started filming around June of 2024. Along with the exceptional casting, the movie will be directed by Nisha Ganatara, who has directed projects involving big names such as Mindy Kaling and Dakota Johnson. As of now, we currently don’t know much about the plot of the sequel, but it has been revealed that Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis will be swapping bodies with two of the new castmates, who play Harper and Lily. Lohan and Curtis have also revealed that the sequel also has more emotional undertones than the original film. Overall, it seems the sequel is quite promising.
Looking Back: A Review of the Franchise
All the way back in 1976, Disney released the first Freaky Friday starring Jodie Foster and Barbra Harris, which definitely needed improvement. The original film is centered around tomboy-teen Annabel Andrews, who thought that her mother Ellen’s lifestyle was easy. Ellen is seen as a housewife, handling the home for the family. Obviously, the movie now is very dated and sexist, but even disregarding its problematic nature, the original movie isn’t impressive. From the bland dialogue and the fact that the script isn’t even slightly comedic until the end, the movie isn’t very good. But out of all the flaws, the most substantial is that the script did not portray the “Daughter inside of a mother’s mind” or “mother inside of a daughter’s mind” well. Even in the final scenes, it’s hard to tell if they have switched back or not. While the 1976 original is nothing short of boring and problematic, the 2003 remake featuring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan is quite exceptional. Jamie Lee Curtis’ portrayal of Tess Coleman was perfect. She plays an overwhelmed, engaged therapist that has struggled with communicating with her daughter since the death of her husband. When she switches bodies with Lindsay Lohan’s character, Anna Coleman, she delivers a comedic interpretation of an edgy, care-free teenager, which honestly is one of my favorite parts of the movie. Along with Jamie Lee Curtis’ fantastic performance, Lohan delivers a dramatic version of a trouble-maker teen, and a funny performance, mimicking Curtis’ character perfectly. Overall the movie was a well written, 2000s masterpiece and does not fall short to its acclaim. It definitely will be worth watching the long overdue sequel.
Sources:
https://people.com/freaky-friday-2-everything-to-know-8668434
