Director Nisha Ganatra Confirmed, Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis Tease Return

The anticipated Freaky Friday sequel is making significant progress. The film has found its director in Nisha Ganatra, who is known for her work at the helm of Late Night, The High Note, and episodes of And Just Like That... and Welcome to Chippendales. According to The Hollywood Reporter, who shared the news of Ganatra’s involvement, Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, who starred in the 2003 film, are negotiating to reprise their roles.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the new movie will expand on the original film’s premise by involving a four-body swap, which will see “Anna (Lindsay Lohen) and Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) swapping bodies with two teenage girls – Anna’s daughter, Harper, and her fiance Eric’s daughter, Lily, both of whom are 14-years-old.”

Curtis and Lohan seemingly confirmed their participation in the upcoming sequel through a social media post on Curtis’ Instagram. The Everything Everywhere All at Once actress captioned a snap of the two, “DUH! FFDEUX!” and tagged Disney.

A follow-up picture of the two, from 2003’s Freaky Friday, was captioned with a green check mark, leaving Curtis’ followers to wonder if this was a confirmation post. Curtis also shared a picture of herself alongside Ganatra and Jordan Weiss, writing: “Girl power! We are just missing a hot redhead and the team would be complete.” Weiss is the creator of Hulu’s Dollface; it is unclear what connection she has to the upcoming Freaky Friday sequel.

The Lohan and Curtis-led Freaky Friday, directed by Mark Waters, was the fifth installment in the franchise and premiered in 2003. It follows Tess (Curtis) and her daughter, Anna (Lohan), who mysteriously swap bodies after arguing at a restaurant; they are forced to adapt to each other’s lives for one freaky Friday. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $160 million at the global box office. Lohan and Curtis earned praise for their portrayals, with Curtis earning a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

Jamie Lee Curtis Has Been Pushing for a Freaky Friday Sequel

Curtis has not been shy about her desire to revisit the role of Tess. In October 2022, Curtis shared that she had pitched a Freaky Friday 2 storyline:

“I’ve already written to Disney, my friends at Disney. I’m in their new ‘Haunted Mansion’ movie. Let me be the grandma! Let me be the old grandma who switches places. So then Lindsay gets to be the sexy grandma, who is still happy with Mark Harmon in all the ways you would be happy with Mark Harmon. I would like to see Lindsay be the hot grandma, and I would like to see me try to deal with toddlers today. I want to be a helicopter parent in today’s world.”

Disney confirmed that a sequel was in development in May 2023. Despite hitting a roadblock due to the Hollywood strikes, Curtis said in October 2023 that there was “no question” a follow-up film would come to fruition. And now, we’re that much closer to seeing Tess and Anna’s lives two decades after that freaky Friday.

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Andrew Gunn, who also served as a producer on the 2003 film, will produce the sequel alongside Disney’s Kristin Burr. Ann Marie Sanderlin will executive produce.

While release details have not been revealed, the sequel is scheduled to commence shooting in Los Angeles this summer.