Chad Michael Murray is stepping back into Jake's world in "Freakier Friday." The actor, who played Lindsay Lohan's love interest in the 2003 hit film, "Freaky Friday," returns in the sequel as the heartthrob many remember and love.
The cast of Freakier Friday at the Los Angeles Premiere.
Premiere Excitement
At the "Freakier Friday" premiere in Hollywood, Murray shared his excitement for the film and called it "incredible."
"It's so good," he said. "It might even be better than the first one." He continued, "There's so many feelings, but at the end of the day, I always remember, I always try to remind myself why I became an actor. "I became an actor because I wanted to go make film and television that would entertain people," he said. "I wanted to get people that moment to step away from whatever was going on in their life and give them that departure."
He added, "So I remember that and I smile and I remember my dad's words. My dad always just said, 'Just have fun with it, whatever you're doing, just have fun.'"
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Family Celebration
Murray celebrated the "Freakier Friday" premiere with his family. The actor was all smiles as he shared his carpet moment with his wife, Sarah Roemer, and their son and daughter, who they welcomed in 2015 and 2017, respectively.
Sarah Roemer and Chad Michael Murray with family at the Freakier Friday Los Angeles Premiere.
He said that his oldest daughter got a sneak peek of "Freakier Friday" and that she "loves this film." "For the first time ever, we brought them kind of out," he said about his kids' first red carpet moment. "They really wanted to go. They really wanted to be a part of it. I think that this is the perfect place for them to be able to come and witness the lightness and the beauty that can be this industry if you bring light, joy and your goal is to bring smiles and happiness."
"That's what this movie's about," he added.
The Cast and Crew
Along with Murray and Lohan, the film stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Manny Jacinto, Julia Butters and Sophia Hammons.
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The upcoming film, directed by Nisha Ganatra, features Lohan and Curtis switching bodies again. This time, Anna now has a daughter of her own, along with a soon-to-be stepdaughter.
The Plot Thickens
"Freakier Friday" arrives in theaters on August 8. Twenty-two years after the body swapping incident, a now adult Anna Coleman works as a music producer and is a single parent by choice, raising her teenage daughter Harper with the occasional help of her mother Tess.
When Harper and Lily cause an incident in chemistry class, Anna is called to the principal's office, meets Lily's father Eric, and they fall in love. Six months later, they are engaged, and the soon-to-be stepsisters are dissatisfied with their predicament. Harper also worries that her mother will consider moving them to London as Lily wants to return there to attend a fashion academy in honor of her late mother.
During Anna's bachelorette party, Anna and Tess and later Harper and Lily have separate palm readings from the supposed psychic Madame Jen, who tells Harper and Lily a fortune about their fractured lives. An earthquake then occurs, which only the four feel. The experienced Anna and Tess advise Harper and Lily to pretend to be each other rather than telling anyone about the switch until they can change back. Realizing their new identities could help them break their parents apart, Harper and Lily lie about Madame Jen giving them a reading to delay the reverse.
Anna and Tess go to school and spend time in detention for a food fight Harper and Lily caused at a bake sale, while Harper and Lily enjoy the advantages of being adults and come up with a sabotage plan to cancel the wedding. At a photoshoot of Anna's client Ella, Harper and Lily help the young singer overcome her recent breakup. They learn about Anna's abandoned rock star dreams and find a love song, which they assume Anna wrote about her high school ex-boyfriend Jake Austin.
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After escaping detention, Anna and Tess find Madame Jen, who reveals Harper and Lily's fortune but warns them that all the four of them need to "change their hearts" in order to change back. Meanwhile, Harper, as Anna, goes to an immigration interview with Eric, and finds out how much he knows about and loves her mother. Eric also says that he thinks it would be the best for their families to stay in Los Angeles, causing Harper to have second thoughts about their sabotage plan.
Lily, however, remains determined. She invites Jake to the rehearsal dinner and makes a scene by criticizing the Colemans, leading to a heated public argument. Following a heartfelt conversation with Tess about her homesickness and the loss of her mother, Lily starts to realize the error of her ways. As Tess, she tries to convince her father not to give up on Anna.
At the same time, Anna, followed by Harper, is called to Ella's concert, learning that Ella invited her old band, the Pink Slip, so they could perform together again. Although happy for the reunion, Anna tells Harper she never regretted abandoning her musical aspirations because Harper is the best decision she ever made, and the love song was actually written about her. Mother and daughter reconnect as they play the song together on stage. Tess and Lily arrive in time to see it, with Lily happily stating she wants to be a part of this family. Having a change of heart, they all return to their original bodies.
The wedding is held the next day. Some time later, the family attends the launch event of Tess's latest book.
Production Insights
In May 2023, Walt Disney Pictures announced a sequel to the fantasy-comedy film Freaky Friday (2003) was in development, written by Elyse Hollander, with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan set to reprise their roles as Tess and Anna Coleman, respectively. In March 2024, Lohan confirmed the sequel was in active development, and Nisha Ganatra had been hired to direct the film, with Jordan Weiss rewriting the script.
In June 2024, Julia Butters, Manny Jacinto, Sophia Hammons, and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan joined the cast, with Mark Harmon, Chad Michael Murray, Christina Vidal, Haley Hudson, Lucille Soong, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Rosalind Chao reprising their roles from the original film. The following month, Jordan E. Cooper joined the cast.
Curtis insisted that the movie be filmed in Los Angeles and the filmmakers considered it a "love letter" to the city, particularly in light of the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires after many of the filming locations were destroyed. The family house used for both the sequel and the 2003 film burned down, and the production team was able to provide the homeowner with their location-scout photos for insurance claim and FEMA aid.
Ganatra talked about getting permission to shoot in the city and being able to showcase certain parts of it she found that hadn't been previously captured on film: "[LA] has so much diversity, both in the people and places. [...] It was incredible to explore the city, but it then became a sad reality, as much of what we captured has disappeared due to the fires," and spoke of its importance in the film, "LA is her own character, and there are so many versions of LA, but I think for this movie, the right version was all of her. It was about showcasing the beauty, nature, from Downtown to the beaches."
The scene featuring Curtis and Lohan driving a Chevrolet Camaro is a direct homage and recreation of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Furthermore, Ganatra was inspired by her love for Lucille Ball and physical comedy.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off, along with "a lot of the films from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s," also influenced the lensing used, with Ganatra detailing: "We even went with the 1.85:1 aspect ratio because I wanted it to feel like the classic studio films that we grew up with.
The film's official title was announced by Curtis and Lohan at the 2024 D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event on August 9. In January 2025, it was revealed that Vanessa Bayer joined the cast. Following the release of the teaser trailer, it was disclosed Elaine Hendrix, who had previously starred in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap alongside Lohan, would also be appearing in the film. Eleanor Infante edited the film.
Disney initially planned to produce the film for a direct-to-streaming release, but Curtis and Lohan pushed for a theatrical rollout, with Curtis revealing she pointed to the strong audience reception of Barbie (2023) to help persuade executives.
Ganatra addressed the need to update the 2003 film's Asian representation, which was viewed as "problematic," explaining, "There were some stereotypes that were hurtful." While Chao and Soong both returned for the sequel, they are not involved in the body swapping: "It was a different time and wasn't done intentionally [in the 2003 film], but it's a real thing. It's something I, being Asian, was super conscious of."
Ganatra said the scene featuring Lohan and Curtis on a beach was unscripted. She talked about directing the actresses, saying: "Comedies get a lot of flak for not being serious films, but the acting that those four actors are doing is really sophisticated.
Freakier Friday marked Lohan's first Walt Disney feature since 2005's Herbie: Fully Loaded, following her debut with the studio in 1998 and multiple other projects in subsequent years. The film includes several references to the 2003 film as well as Lohan's other movies. American indie pop band Muna make a cameo appearance as part of the fictional artist Ella's band.
Producer Kristin Burr stated that the fictional band Pink Slip was always intended to be featured in the sequel due to its long-lasting impact and meaningful role in the 2003 film's story. However, there was debate over whether Lohan's character and Muna would be a part of the band, with the decision ultimately made to retain all of the original members.
In March 2025, it was announced that Amie Doherty would compose the film's score, after previously collaborating with Ganatra on The High Note (2020). Doherty detailed, "I think 29 tracks on the soundtrack aren't score. There's everything on there from the Spice Girls to Chappell Roan, some really nostalgic pieces mixed with very modern pieces." She elaborated that the songs were meant to establish and reference the "older two characters and the younger two in this movie, so the score was there to help with the emotional beats, first and foremost."
The score blends punk-rock influences, orchestral themes recorded with a live string ensemble in Los Angeles, and modern electronic elements to create a unified musical palette inspired partly by the fictional band Pink Slip from the 2003 film. On July 11, 2025, a new version of the song "Take Me Away" by Pink Slip was released by Hollywood Records as a single for Freakier Friday. A previous version of the song appeared in Freaky Friday.
The full soundtrack was released by Hollywood Records on August 1, 2025.
Release and Reception
Freakier Friday had its world premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on July 22, 2025, and was released theatrically in the United States on August 8. Internationally, the film was first released in selected territories on August 6, 2025.
Maureen Lee Lenker of Entertainment Weekly gave the film an Aâ and described it as "a heart-on-its-sleeve ode to strengthening and forging bonds, the power of deep and unconditional love, and the warmth and safety of one's chosen family, most especially when it's at its freakiest."
Time Out's Olly Richards gave the film three stars out of five and wrote, "There are almost endless holes you could pick in its logic and storytelling, but it gives you few reasons to want to. This Friday's freakier, but it's kind of... funner too."
Writing for IndieWire, Kate Erbland stated: "Leave it to Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan to crack the code as to what makes a good legacyquel, which they've done quite handily," calling it "charming and quite fun," crediting the "actual verve, obvious joy, and performances that are about three times better than they need to be," while positively comparing it to the 2003 film.
TheWrap's William Bibbiani similarly declared that it "is the best kind of legacy sequel. It harkens back to what made the original work without literally doing the same thing all over again," continuing that it "reunites a great cast and gives the new stars just as much time to shine," concluding that "it's still sweet, it's still funny, it's still freaky, and it's still Friday.
A scene from Freakier Friday, showcasing the body-swapping chaos.
Kevin Maher of The Times wrote: "There is, to repeat, a lot going on here. Angie Martoccio reviewed the film for Rolling Stone, writing that, "against all odds, it's actually kind of great [...] Freakier Friday is a charming love letter to Lohan and her generation, and marks the actress' official comeback."
Amy Nicholson of the Los Angeles Times wrote that it "won't trade places with the original in audience's hearts.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack features a mix of nostalgic and modern tracks, blending punk-rock influences with orchestral themes. Here's a glimpse of the musical landscape:
| Track | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Take Me Away | Pink Slip | New version released as a single |
| Various | Spice Girls, Chappell Roan | Nostalgic and modern pieces |
The songs were meant to establish and reference the older and younger characters in the movie, with the score helping with the emotional beats.
How Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan made 'Freakier Friday' happen
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