Selena Gomez is in final talks to star & produce a ‘reboot’ of ‘Working Girl’

Like most movie lovers, I have a shortlist of films I never, ever want to see remade or modernized in any way. Rear Window, To Kill a Mockingbird, Steel Magnolias, The Conversation, Beverly Hills Cop, The Godfather, etc. Mike Nichols’ Working Girl is absolutely on that shortlist. It’s a perfect film, perfectly cast, with a perfect script and perfect performances. It is Melanie Griffith’s best role. Harrison Ford is brilliant in it. Joan Cusack stole every scene she was in. Signourney Weaver chews the scenery as a conniving, manipulative WASP. Even Alec Baldwin is amazing in it and he arguably got the best line out of the entire film, a line I still use today: “Who the f–k died and made you Grace Kelly?” Jack’s monologue as he’s carrying a passed-out Tess up the stairs should be studied in every acting school. Well… Working Girl being remade. By Selena Gomez?!?!?

20th Century is looking to revive one of its more popular IPs with the help of one of industry’s biggest stars. Sources tell Deadline that the studio is developing a reboot of the 1980s classic Working Girl, with Selena Gomez in final negotiations to produce. Ilana Pena is adapting the script, and the film would likely premiere on Hulu.

Exact plot details for this pic are unknown but the 1988 pic starred Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver and Joan Cusack and revolves around an ambitious secretary (Griffith) who takes on her boss’ identity while the latter is laid up with a broken leg. The film was not only one of that year’s breakout hits bringing in more than $100 million at the domestic box office, but it also was critically hailed and earned six Oscar nominations including a Best Picture nom, Best Actress nomination for Griffith and Supporting noms for Cusack and Weaver.

Like so many studios who have been raiding their library looking to revive hit films from ’80s and ’90s following the success of Top Gun: Maverick, 20th Century sees this as a timely property and views Gomez as the perfect partner on the project.

[From Deadline]

Deep sigh… no, let’s not. I have nothing against Selena or Ilana Pena and I absolutely think there could be a romantic-comedy-drama loosely based on or inspired by Working Girl. It would add dimension to the story with a Latina lead, in a script written by a Latina writer as well, especially given the crux of the story. But don’t do it as a straight remake, for the love of God! I’m already getting horrific ideas about how the story will be modernized and Selena-as-Tess will be all “Scam Girl Summer Vibez!” NO!!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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27 Responses to “Selena Gomez is in final talks to star & produce a ‘reboot’ of ‘Working Girl’”

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  1. Granger says:

    I love Working Girl. I just can’t see how anyone could top the original. I’m not sure I would see this but I think my teen daughter would be into it.

  2. K says:

    I love OMITB and really appreciate Selena in it. I am happy for her but I wish Hollywood would oh…idk be inventive. STOP with reboots. God people be creative!

  3. Maddy says:

    I wish Hollywood would go on a self-imposed break from superhero movies, remakes and biopics for a year or so. Bring back studio support for original concepts.

    • Tiffany:) says:

      If audiences would reliably go to new concept movies, I think more would be made. It’s cheap to do a remake of a property you already own, and audiences are always drawn to nostalgia and familiarity, so marketing is way easier and less expensive. I really wish it wasn’t true!

      I’ve read that studies show you have to see/hear about something new 7 times before a person will consider watching/reading/listening to something totally unfamiliar. There’s a reason that suddenly a project is everywhere, and people feel an odd urge to check it out.

  4. Boxy Lady says:

    I remember when Working Girl was turned into a TV show. It was the 1st thing I ever saw Sandra Bullock in and it was a few years before Speed. Not that this really pertains to this story, it was just a memory that popped up.

    Hopefully this works for Selena. I like her a lot.

  5. Noki says:

    I absolutely love Working Girl, i dont know if its because it was embedded in my childhood movies or it was really that great because Melanie Griffiths (NOW she is the Nepotism that needs more discussion) acting is appalling. Thank God for the other heavy weights that held it together.

  6. smcollins says:

    Working Girl is definitely on my list as well. I’d also like to add The Wizard of Oz (talk has come & gone over the years, let’s hope it stays gone). Now, back to WG: No, no, no, no, absolutely not, NO. Hollywood really needs to stop with the remakes and reboots, it’s become really tiresome and shows that they don’t really care about originality, only cashing in on nostalgia.

  7. Jenn says:

    So every couple of decades they’ll make a Working Girl remake? Wasn’t the Jessica Simpson remake enough?

  8. Eurydice says:

    “Exact plot details for this pic are unknown…” OK

    Another movie that should never have been made – Sabrina.

  9. Case says:

    There have been so few major romantic comedies in the past decade, surely there’s new material they could work with instead.

    • Owlsyn (Ableism is Not Cool) says:

      I think that romantic comedies need to find their footing in the modern era. Everyone loves a movie about falling in love, but a lot of classic rom coms do not hold up to current ideas about consent, abusive behavior, gas lighting, and just sexual politics in general. So you can’t fall back on the tropes of the genre

  10. ThatsNotOkay says:

    I fear this is my fault, for over the past month or so, I’ve been streaming Working Girl on loop, and lapping up every moment. Thus, they realized there is hunger (and thirst) for this movie and decided to…do it again? It really is such a perfect movie, with perfect performances and perfect music. Cannot be redone. No reboot would measure up nor could surpass it, so just re-release it in the theaters instead for its anniversary and get the original cast back together. That, I’d love to support.

  11. Amelia says:

    The article says nothing about her starring in it, just producing it…

  12. MollyB says:

    They did remake Steel Magnolias… Queen Latifah.

  13. CharlotteW says:

    The soundtrack from the original is what I’ve been listening to during grad school. You can’t top it. Let the river run!

  14. Lens says:

    The very idea of remakes makes me want to knock my head against a wall. Top gun maverick worked because the people in it had a history so it was more a sequel than a remake. If Sandra bullock couldn’t do it (actually I never watched it, just know that it wasn’t what made Sandra a star) what makes them think Selena will? Actually they should do what they usually do take a basic premise (lowly worker fakes being the boss to great success) and run with it. Just don’t call it Working Girl.

  15. Lens says:

    The idea of remakes makes me want to knock my head against a wall. Top gun maverick worked because the people in it had a history so it was more a sequel than a remake. If Sandra bullock couldn’t do it (actually I never watched it, just know that it wasn’t what made Sandra a star) what makes them think Selena will? Actually they should do what they usually do take a basic premise (lowly worker fakes being the boss to great success) and run with it.

  16. Doodle says:

    I respectfully disagree about the best line of the film. It’s either, “I’m not steak, you can’t just order me!” or Joan Cusack’s lines about impersonation: “sometimes I dance around in my underwear. Doesn’t make me Madonna, never will.”

    This movie should NOT be remade.

    • Yaiyai says:

      Those are great lines! This is one of my favorite movies of all time, I am with you it should not be remade.
      My favorite lines are:
      “You want another answer, ask another girl.”
      “Can I get ya anything? Coffee? Tea? Me?”
      “You want to be taken seriously, you need serious hair.”
      I love this movie!

    • Driver8 says:

      “6,000 dollars?! It’s not even leather!” My bff and I say this all the time! Joan and Sigourney were the MVP’s of that film.

      • Juniper says:

        @Driver8 that’s my favorite line in the movie. Actually, all the lines from Joan Cusack are quotable.

  17. Lululu says:

    Noooooo! Working Girl was very much a product of its time, when women were just beginning to find their voices in the business world.

    If this update actually gets made, I hope they can find a really smart, clever way of updating it. But I’m not holding my breath.

  18. Lizzie Bathory says:

    I can’t get mad at this? Anyone will tell you that the operative word in “show business” is business. Right now, much of the business is in mining IP, so if you’re a creator, you go where the money is.

    As @Amelia points out, the article says nothing about Selena Gomez starring, but I’ve found her delightful in OMITB & just started watching her cooking show last night, so I’d be happy to see her in this. The writer started off in the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend writers’ room, which is also a plus for me. Creative people have always had to create within the bounds of the film industry’s whims. I prefer to judge the result as opposed to the pitch.

  19. Nicki says:

    Love your list and agree 100 percent re: Working Girl. Frame for frame, that’s a perfect movie. And omg Joan Cusack? Plus such a generous performance by Signorney Weaver. I’d add Shawshank Redemption and Devil Wears Prada to the no-remake list.

  20. Kris says:

    I thought they were all wonderful in that movie and Melanie was the beating heart of the film. Without her to anchor it it wouldn’t have worked. She’s the kind of actress who often doesn’t get her due, because she was light and bubbly and feminine. She was amazing in Something Wild too. I hope Selena is not going to play that part. Selena is tremendously talented but her style is so different.

    She’s rather opaque and droll, such a different vibe.

    They should do a millennial version of a work life story and hit all those beats instead of trying to redo this one in my opinion. A play on the pandemic, changing work mores, dating on apps, and struggling to get beyond paycheck to paycheck with a dry tone could be really good.

  21. C says:

    Working Girl is a great film but the tropes are very “of its time”. Namely, the idea that only one woman can be in charge and so they have to scheme around each other (I know Sigourney Weaver’s character did it first, but yeah). And the whole thing about Tess taking over Katharine’s job AND boyfriend was a little weird even though it’s done in a cute way.

    Interestingly, I guess Brooke Shields really really wanted the role of Tess and fought hard for it. No idea how that would have panned out.

  22. jferber says:

    I’d watch anything Selena is in. I love her so much.