The 80s had a number of memorable body-switching movies. There was the 1988 comedies 18 Again, which starred George Burns, and Vice Versa, which starred Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage. The latter was not to be confused with Like Father Like Son, which starred Dudley Moore and Kirk Cameron. The films released within months of one another and both featured fathers who switched bodies with their sons. And then there was All of Me, which came before any of the other mentioned body-switching films, and is less about body switching as it is about body possessing. Word is, Carl Reiner's comedy is being set up for a remake.
Released in 1984, All of Me starred Lily Tomlin and Steve Martin, and followed a dying, wealthy millionairess who arranges to have her spirit transferred into the body of a younger, healthy woman. But things go wrong and her spirit ends up in the body of her attorney Roger. As Roger's in there too, he and Edwina are stuck sharing a body together, and naturally they get to know each other pretty well as they try to fix the situation. Some goofy but charming comedy ensues.
THR says Dreamworks is developing a remake of the film, with John Davis (Chronicle, Mr. Popper's Penguins) set to produce, and a scripted penned by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein (Never Been Kissed, The Vow). At present the project is in the script development stage, but it sounds like the story would have the man's soul entering the woman's body. Interesting... We'll have to wait and see if things move forward with this, and if so, who they bring in to direct. There's also the matter of the stars. The chemistry between Martin and Tomlin in the original film, added to Martin's knack with great physical comedy (which served him well when playing a man possessed by a woman) was a big part of what made All of Me work so well.
THR says Queen Latifah would have starred in the remake that New Line was previously working on when they had the rights to it. I could definitely see her in Tomlin's role. And on a related note, Latifah is set to take over the lead in another remake of an 80's film - this one, coming to Lifetime next month. She's set to play M'Lynn in the cable channel's remake of Steel Magnolias.
As for All of Me, it may be too soon to start speculating on who should star, but Tomlin and Martin have certainly set the bar high. Here's the trailer for the original movie.
