With Selena Gomez’s assistance, 20th Century Studios hopes to bring “Working Girl” back to life. Gomez is currently in final talks to create a new version of the comedy Working Girl, which was directed by Mike Nichols and stars Sigourney Weaver, Melanie Griffith, and Harrison Ford. Selena Gomez will produce the revival, but it’s unclear if she’ll also feature in it or if her involvement will be purely administrative.
The original script by Kevin Wade will be modified for the reboot by Ilana Pena. Prior to creating Diary of a Future President for Disney+, Pena worked as a writer for the CW comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Little is known about the upcoming Working Girl reboot, including how much of the movie’s original story would be carried through. The movie will be the next in a long line of recent reboots or spinoffs of 20th Century characters, including Josh Peck’s new Disney+ Turner & Hooch series, Home Sweet Home Alone in 2021, and Cheaper by the Dozen in 2022.
The original movie, which has a decidedly New York vibe, centres on a Staten Island secretary (Melanie Griffith), who assumes the persona of her employer (Sigourney Weaver) after breaking her leg. She tries to forward the merger arrangements with the aid of her buddy (Joan Cusack), by pretending to be her boss to a colleague (Harrison Ford) from another company. The movie received overwhelmingly positive reviews and earned over $100 million at the box office. A record-breaking six Academy Awards and Golden Globes were nominated for it. The movie took home four Golden Globes, including Best Musical/Comedy Picture, best actress honours for Griffith and Weaver, and an Oscar for the classic song “Let the River Run” by Carly Simon.
This will not be the first spin-off that the movie has produced. The same-named sitcom, featuring Sandra Bullock as the title character, was shown on NBC in 1990. After eight episodes, the series was cancelled due to its poor performance, leaving four episodes to be seen by viewers. A Broadway musical adaption with lyrics and music by Cyndi Lauper was in development as of 2019. There hasn’t yet been a finished staged production.
