Oh boy, in a list of unnecessary remakes that I can think of, this one has got to be near the top of the list. However, I'll watch just about anything starring the delightful Anna Faris, and Eugenio Derbez ain't half bad either. It's being reported today that both actors have signed on to star in a gender-swapped re-imagining of Garry Marshall's 1987 comedy OVERBOARD. You remember this one, right? It's the movie where a blue-collar Kurt Russell and his kids tricked an amnesiac, silver-spooned Goldie Hawn into domestic slavery until she came to her senses. No, it's not a prequel to CAPTAIN RON, it's simply a screwball comedy meant to make you chuckle and tug ever so slightly at your heart strings.
Avast and other seafaring jargon! Rob Greenberg and Bob Fisher will write and direct the new film, which is set to go into production in Vancouver during the month of May, this year. This re-tooled version of the story will feature a role-reversal of the original plot with Derbez playing a privileged playboy from one of Mexico's wealthiest families who falls overboard off his yacht, to which he is then hoodwinked by a single, working class class mom into thinking that he's her husband.
Derbez will also act as a producer on the film along with Ben Odell. MGM and Pantelion will co-produce, co-finance, and co-distribute the film with Lionsgate handling domestic distribution.
So … yeah, this is a thing that is happening. Eh, why not, right? Comedies seem to be in short supply these days, good ones anyway. I personally think that Faris is a hilarious and talented young woman and I'll be curious to see what she does with this role. I also have to admit that I totally own the original OVERBOARD on DVD, and that I do pop it in from time to time whenever I need a decent background laugh. Regardless of how you feel, OVERBOARD goes into production this May.