In a heated auction, Amazon Studios beat four other studios and streamers for a Julia Roberts and Jennifer Aniston body swap comedy. Palm Springs director Max Barbakow, who will write and direct, pitched the star powered comedy vehicle last week, per Deadline.
The announcement comes off the heel of the surprising box office success of Ticket to Paradise, which re-teamed Roberts with megastar George Clooney for the fifth time on-screen since they first met and worked together on Steven Soderbergh’s seminal heist comedy film Oceans Eleven. In addition to the recent Ol Parker-directed hit following a divorced couple banding together to stop their daughter’s marriage, Roberts has most recently appeared as Martha Mitchell alongside Sean Penn in the 2022 mini-series Gaslit, which is a modern take on Watergate scandal by focusing on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the time. However, Roberts is probably best known for her roles in the ’90s rom-coms such as Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman; Julianne Potter in My Best Friend’s Wedding; Maggie Carpenter in Runaway Bride; and Anna Scott in Notting Hill.
On the other hand, Aniston – who popularized the quintessential Rachel haircut with her fan-favorite, fashion-forward character on the hit TV show Friends – has built a succesful TV and film career. Some of the latest additions to her filmography include Office Christmas Party, Dumplin’ and Cake. She also led the TV series, The Morning Show, alongside Reese Witherspoon. She also recently reunited Adam Sandler, her co-star in the hilarious 2011 rom-com Just Go With It, for Netflix’s Murder Mystery which has a sequel in the works now. Like her future body swap comedy co-star, Aniston has appeared in countless action-comedy films such as 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 attached 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 perfect for taking up the helm of another star-studded comedy redo of a common science-fiction trope. Given Barbakow’s success in the past with directing and writing the story for such an original-yet-unoriginal and beloved film like Palm Springs, which was also based on his original pitch, the body swap flick appears to be in the right hands.
With two of the most iconic leading ladies in Hollywood on board, it's not hard to see why the project was in such demand. The comedy will be produced by LuckyChap Entertainment, the production label of Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Josey McNamara. Barbakow will also be producing along with Roberts and her Red Om Films banner as well as Aniston’s Echo Films.
The Aniston and Roberts-led body swap film was just pitched early last week, so it might be some time before audiences learn anything more about the movie. Until then, stick with Collider for any future updates and additional details regarding the film.