It’s been 22 years since Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan first swapped bodies in “Freaky Friday,” but they’re ready to do it again with a new generation in Disney’s “Freakier Friday,” out in theaters next month.
At Tuesday night’s world premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, the Oscar-winning actress explained why audiences need feel-good movies like this highly anticipated sequel to the 2003 family classic now more than ever.
“There’s math involved. You couldn’t make this movie if Lindsay didn’t have a teenage daughter, so she had to be old enough,” Curtis told TheWrap. “And there’s a nostalgia about the movie. In a time of turmoil, you cling to something nostalgic and familiar, so it’s like comfort food.”
“I think ‘Freaky Friday’ is sort of cinema comfort food: it’s satisfying, makes you feel good, makes you laugh, makes you cry. You leave uplifted and you feel — because you’re in a theater with other people, not on a streamer — you’re not alone,” she added. “If there was ever a time in the world to feel united and not alone, it’s now.”
Meanwhile, Disney Channel favorite and franchise newcomer Sophia Hammons opened up about getting to act alongside such iconic Hollywood legends.
“I loved the first one. I was like 12 or 13 and I had a huge Avril Lavigne phase — still there — but Lindsay told me that her inspo for Anna’s streaks in her hair was Avril Lavigne. So, no wonder I connected with this movie so much, I wanted to be Anna. And now I’m Tess,” she shared. “The biggest thing is that we’re so lucky to do what we do and it’s incredible that I get to work alongside people that I’ve looked up to for so long and that I still do.”
Also joining the sequel cast is Manny Jacinto, who gets to star as Lohan’s love interest and the dad to Hammons’ character, Lily.
“I was that kid that loved ‘Freaky Friday,’ ‘Mean Girls.’ To witness and be beside Lindsay during her Lohan-aissance is pretty wild,” he said. “There’s a reason why the ladies get paid the big bucks. Me and Chad are just happy to be on the sidelines and just wave our hair. It’s the ladies’ movie, they shine in it, and I can’t wait for everybody to see it.”
The Los Angeles event kicked off with an IRL performance of Pink Slip’s “Take Me Away” from the original movie, with an intro from the “Freakier Friday” cast. The post-screening afterparty featured a live 2000s cover band, open bars, buffets, chocolate milkshakes and DIY trucker hats, as well as brand activations and goodies from Club Pilates, Schwarzkopf, Secret, Swig Drinks, Brooklyn Charm and Walgreens.
Fellow cast members Julia Butters, Chad Michael Murray, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Rosalind Chao, Ryan Malgarini, Lucille Soong, Christina Vidal Mitchell, Haley Hudson, Elaine Hendrix, Vanessa Bayer, Chloe Fineman, Jordan Cooper, Kimberly Bigsby and X Mayo were also in attendance. Other notable guests included screenwriter Jordan Weiss, producer Kristin Burr, composer Amie Doherty, director Nisha Ganatra, Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman, Daniel Franzese, Lisa Ann Walter, Rachael Leigh Cook, Whitney Cummings, David Archuleta, Jake Thomas, Aubrey Anderson-Emmons and Maia Kealoha, to name a few.
“Freakier Friday” finds itself in theaters on Aug. 8.
