Kelly Coffey-Behrens
·4 min read
Jennifer Aniston has been tapped to produce a reboot of the 1980s film "9 to 5," which starred Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin, with Diablo Cody behind the script.
The original film follows three women who work in a corporate office and decide to take matters into their own hands to get back at their sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical boss, played by Dabney Coleman.
Diablo Cody hinted that the upcoming reboot will keep the spirit of the original while switching things up to resonate with today's crowd.
A '9 To 5' Reboot Is In The Works
Jennifer Aniston is set to produce a fresh take on the 1980 comedy classic through her production company, Echo Films, which she co-runs with Kristin Hahn.
“Jennifer Aniston is just the coolest girl in the world, right?” Diablo Cody told People Magazine of the "Friends" star. “She can make anything happen. She's incredibly powerful. And she's gorgeous and she's cool.”
It’s “definitely a pinch-me moment to be collaborating with” Jennifer Aniston, Cody added.
Diablo Cody Tapped As Screenwriter For '9 To 5' Remake
Cody, who is behind the script of the new movie, recalled how she became attached to the project.
“They were looking for a writer, and I heard about it, and I really move on things,” Cody told People. “I thought, ‘If I don't do this, I'm going to regret it.’ And that's always the sign. I think to myself, ‘Would I be viciously jealous of the person who took this job if I didn't take it?’ If the answer is yes, I have to do it.”
Aniston and Hahn decided to reach out to Cody since she has a "love" for the original. “It helps when people know that you're passionate about it and that you're not just a hired gun," Cody told the magazine, adding that “many years ago [she] was a corporate 9 to 5 girly."
"So I've been in that world. I worked in an ad agency," Cody added. "So I had to call upon that era in my life to write.”
The New Movie Will 'Pay Homage' To The 80s Original
Many people are skeptical of reboots of beloved classics, but Cody reassures "9 to 5" fans that any good reboot should break new ground as much as it must “pay homage to the material."
“I'm not really supposed to talk about this that much,” she teased when speaking to People. “But the original movie was kind of a battle-of-the-sexes type scenario. Whereas now I feel like most of the conflict in the workplace is generational: how Gen Z works versus people that have maybe been in the office for decades.”
Last month, Diablo Cody revealed that the project is still in the very early stages as they do not even have a cast yet, "but I feel like we’re moving forward with it. It was really an exciting thing to work on."
Dolly Parton Speaks Out About Upcoming '9 To 5' Reboot
The "9 to 5" original actress and country music singer broke her silence on the reboot at the 2024 CMA Fest, admitting that she has known about Aniston's idea for many years.
“She did talk about wanting to do that then with younger newer people,” Parton recalled. “And that possibly Jane [Fonda], Lily [Tomlin] and I — they might look us up and now that we’re older and whatever positions we’re holding, the characters that we played — and that we might get to be in it there.”
“And I’m certainly hoping they’ll use my song,” she added.
Lily Tomlin Speaks Out
Lily Tomlin also broke her silence about the reboot, with Tomlin hoping Jennifer Aniston "has great success."
"It’s a hard nut to crack because the issues are somewhat different," she told Variety of how society has changed since the 80s. “There’s still the undercurrent of the same kind of negativity towards females … [they’re] not easy-to-solve issues. So we’re very eager to see what they do."
She echoed this mindset in an interview with People, expressing, “We had one official crack at the script. The draft just didn’t work for us. We couldn’t really see the work world today [in the pages]. People work from home. They take gig work. They don’t even know their boss. They’re at home!”
It will be interesting to see how the upcoming project will pan out. At this time, there is no release date for the "9 to 5" remake.
