Broadway Musical Adaptation of 1983 Comedy ‘Trading Places’ in Development

Eddie Murphy is still a vibrant presence in Hollywood all these years later, after hit comedies like Trading Places put him on the map.

The beloved comedian, 65, starred alongside Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis in the 1983 screwball comedy with a hard R rating. It was a box office success that also helped further the career of Murphy’s co-stars.

More than 40 years later, Trading Places is still very much a topic on conversation in showbiz, with pre-Broadway plans taking shape to bring the hilarious story to the stage.

You read correctly: The John Landis-directed comedy is being developed as a Broadway-bound stage musical, Deadline reports, with a book by Thomas Lennon (Reno 911) and a score by Alan Zachary & Michael Weiner (First Date). Kenny Leon (Othello, The Balusters) attached to direct.

Two invitation-only workshop presentations are scheduled for May 14 and 15 in New York, with actors Bryce Pinkham as Louis Winthorpe III (the Aykroyd role) and Ephraim Sykes as Billy Ray Valentine (the Murphy role), Deadline also noted on Tuesday, April 28. The musical reportedly had a world premiere in 2022 at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta.

Here’s the official synopsis: Billy Ray Valentine is an out-of-work street hustler with a con for every occasion. Louis Winthorpe III is an out-of-touch commodities broker without a care in the world. But during a single holiday season, they become the pawns in an elaborate bet orchestrated by the Dukes, two scheming old brothers, and their lives are forever upended in a hilarious riches-to-rags and rags-to-riches story.

Production details on the musical have not been released, though an eventual Broadway staging is expected, per Deadline.

In other Curtis news, the Trading Places film star reunited with a childhood friend earlier this month: The Young and the Restless legend Tracey E. Bregman, who plays Lauren. Curtis, 67, took to Instagram to reveal that she and Bregman enjoyed some time together on a plane ride.

This story was originally published by Parade on Apr 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.