Amazon Studios outbid four other studios and streaming services for a Julia Roberts and Jennifer Aniston body swap comedy.
According to sources, Palm Springs director Max Barbakow, who will write and direct the star-studded comedy, pitched the project last week.
The announcement follows the unexpected box office success of Ticket to Paradise, which reunited Roberts and megastar George Clooney on-screen for the fifth time since they first met and worked together on Steven Soderbergh’s seminal heist comedy Oceans Eleven.
Roberts most recently appeared as Martha Mitchell alongside Sean Penn in the 2022 mini-series Gaslit, which is a modern take on the Watergate scandal by focusing on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the time.
Roberts is best known for her roles in rom-coms from the 1990s, including Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman, Julianne Potter in My Best Friend’s Wedding, Maggie Carpenter in Runaway Bride, and Anna Scott in Notting Hill.
Aniston, on the other hand, has built a successful TV and film career after popularising the quintessential Rachel haircut with her fan-favorite, fashion-forward character on the hit TV show Friends.
Her most recent film credits include Office Christmas Party, Dumplin’, and Cake. She also co-hosted the TV show The Morning Show with Reese Witherspoon.
She also recently re-teamed with Adam Sandler, her co-star in the hilarious 2011 rom-com Just Go With It, for Netflix’s Murder Mystery, which is getting a sequel.
Aniston, like her future body swap comedy co-star, has appeared in a slew of action comedies, including Along Came Polly, Bruce Almighty, The Bounty Hunter, Horrible Bosses, and We’re the Millers.
This isn’t the first hot-ticket item Barbakow has been linked to since his 2020 time loop comedy starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti was purchased by Neon and Hulu at Sundance for a then-festival record sum, making him ideal for directing another star-studded comedy redo of a common science-fiction trope. Given Barbakow’s previous success directing and writing the story for such an original-yet-unoriginal and beloved film as Palm Springs, which was also based on his original pitch, the body swap movie appears to be in good hands. With two of Hollywood’s most iconic leading ladies on board, it’s easy to see why the project was so popular. LuckyChap Entertainment, the production company founded by Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, and Josey McNamara, will produce the comedy. Barbakow will produce alongside Roberts and her Red Om Films label, as well as Aniston’s Echo Films.