Oh, how the 1980’s loved their body-switching comedies. There was Big, Vice Versa, Dream a Little Dream, 18 Again, Something Special, and Like Father, Like Son. Of course, all that body-switching love came full circle, and the past decade has yielded its own bumper crop of switcheroos, including Freaky Friday (a remake of the 1977 film), 17 Again, 13 Going On 30, and The Change-Up. That said, it should come as little surprise that Hollywood is now going back to those ’80s sorta-classics for a new body-switching film. But wait! This one isn’t so much about switching as it about sharing.
THR reports that DreamWorks “is quietly developing a remake of All of Me” (oops! not so quiet now!), a body-switching comedy (again, sort of) that starred no less than Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin. Don’t remember All of Me too well? It’s okay, neither do I, but the 1984 hit is the sixth highest ranked “Body Switch Comedy” on BoxOfficeMojo’s list of the same name, making over $36m at the box office. Oh, and Carl Reiner directed it.
The film saw Tomlin as a rich lady on death’s door who sets up a nifty deal wherein her dying soul would be transferred into the body of a willing participant (conveniently enough, a younger woman). Of course, the soul-transferring goes awry and her soul ends up in the body of her “nebbish attorney,” played by Martin. You see, not a switch, a share. And, oh, the hilarity that comes with that sharing.
Little is known about this new take on the material beyond some basics – like that it will change up the roles and see a man’s soul enter a lady’s body (of course), it’s being produced by John Davis (who has one hell of a resume, which includes stuff like Chronicle, Predators, Norbit, and Dudley Do-Right, of all things), and that Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein have written the script (The Vow, Valentine’s Day, He’s Got Not That Into You, Never Been Kissed, what a record).
It sounds…wacky.