Cameron Diaz And Drew Barrymore Remaking The Greatest Holiday Movie Ever?
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Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is one of the great classics of cinema, a frustrating and heartwarming story about two people trying to get to their homes in Chicago from New York on Thanksgiving. While it has yet to receive the remake treatment from the Hollywood bigwigs, it is getting attention from some in the business, and there is a change in that thinking, according to Movie Web. According to the report, Drew Barrymore is interested in doing her own gender-swapped version that includes her old friend and former co-star, Cameron Diaz.
During an appearance on her own talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show, she and Adam Sandler spoke about their desires in the industry, and she admitted she would love to remake Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. She further explained that she wanted to play the part of Del Griffith, initially the role played by John Candy, to which Adam Sandler agreed that she could do a good Candy. And who would Drew Barrymore cast to play Steve Martin’s part, Cameron Diaz, of course.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is considered one of the greatest Thanksgiving movies and follows Neal (Martin) and Del (Candy) as their flight to Chicago is diverted to Wichita, causing the pair to have to find a way to finish their trip. The two different personalities are the central conflict in the movie, with Neal being the stable and somewhat judgemental one (similar to other roles Martin has played in the past in movies like Father of the Bride and Bringing Down the House) and Del as the zany unhinged one. What makes this movie work is the ability of the two leads to bring comedy then transition quickly to substance and heartwarming scenes, a trait that Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz would also be able to do.
The two actresses are familiar with each other after appearing in the film remake of the classic TV series Charlie’s Angels. The films were massive hits for both actresses at the turn of the century and were some of the new examples of women shining bright as action movie leads. Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz were joined in those films by Lucy Lu.
One roadblock the two are facing is that Planes, Trains, and Automobiles already has two massive stars set up to bring the film to the big screens again. It was announced in 2021 that Will Smith and Kevin Hart were attached to remake the movie together, which would be another example of a perfect fit of personalities, with Smith embodying Neal and Hart being the ideal fit for Del. With Smith going through a rough time over the past year, and his career on somewhat of a fine edge, there is no telling if it would ever happen.
That means Drew Barrymore’s idea for a reboot could still work, and with Cameron Diaz coming out of retirement for the first time in a decade, the time to strike may be right now. If they work quickly, filming could wrap, and post-production could prepare everything by Thanksgiving of 2023.
