Julia Roberts & Jennifer Aniston to Team for Body Swap Comedy Film at Amazon

by Darian Scalamoni 

    Two of the most bankable female stars of all-time are joining forces, or better yet, switching bodies for an upcoming feature film for Amazon Studios. Deadline reports that Jennifer Aniston (Friends, We're the Millers) is teaming with Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman, Erin Brockovich) to star in a currently untitled body swap comedy film that will be written and directed by Max Barbakow (Palm Springs). Amazon won the pitch from Barbakow after a bidding war with four other studios and streamers.

    Amazon has been ramping up their slate of movies in development as of late; purchasing the Sundance pic Flora & Son, the pitch for Red Shirt starring Channing Tatum as well as another star-studded comedy film starring Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell. There's been an appetite for more two-handed comedies as of late, with both of these stars dabbling in them in recent years. Roberts just recently co-starred in Ticket to Paradise with George Clooney in 2022, which was a surprise hit grossing over $172 million at the box-office. Aniston is set to appear alongside Adam Sandler for Murder Mystery 2, the sequel to the popular Netflix original film which will hit the streamer at the end of March.

    Barbakow is best known for writing and directing the breakout time loop comedy Palm Springs, which was one of my favorite films of 2020. He has another couple of projects in development with a standout being Brothers starring Josh Brolin, Peter Dinklage and recent Oscar-nominee, Brendan Fraser. 

    In addition to Murder Mystery 2, Aniston has a number of other projects in the works. She's currently filming season 3 of the flagship AppleTV+ series, The Morning Show in which she plays anchor Alex Levy. She also will star in Michelle MacLaren's Hail Mary, where Aniston will play a former Miss USA contestant who becomes a successful sports manager. 

    

    After a few years away from the business, Roberts had a big year in 2022 with Ticket to Paradise and Gaslit, the Starz series in which the Oscar-winning actress played Martha Mitchell. Next, she'll act opposite Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke and Kevin Bacon in the Netflix film Leave the World Behind written and directed by Mr. Robot creator, Sam Esmail.