In 2003, Disney’s “Freaky Friday,” the Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan body-swap comedy about a mom and daughter magically switching lives for a day, became an instant early-2000s staple. It opened to $22.2 million at the domestic box office and went on to earn $110.2 million in North America and $160.849 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. The comedy debuted behind the action film “S.W.A.T.,” which launched with $37 million that same weekend.
Fast forward 22 years: the 2025 sequel “Freakier Friday” hit theaters this past weekend, pulling in $29 million domestically, per Box Office Mojo. Overseas, Deadline reports the movie earned $15.5 million, bringing its global opening to $44.5 million. Still, the sequel faced competition — its box-office debut trailed the horror-mystery “Weapons,” which scared up $42.5 million domestically.
This time around, Curtis and Lohan are joined by a mix of new faces, with the plot expanding beyond one family’s switcheroo to include a multigenerational twist. Disney leaned into nostalgia-heavy marketing, reuniting the stars for interviews and social media clips while teasing callbacks to memorable moments from the first film.
Critics have been largely positive, as the Deseret News previously reported, though not everyone is on board.
A recent Time social media post quoted critic Stephanie Zacharek’s take, “no one, as far as we know, actually asked Disney for a sequel to 2003’s buoyant, surprisingly unsyrupy generation-gap comedy ‘Freaky Friday,’”
The post continued, “Ugly costumes, humiliating scenarios, and zero added value — this is a sequel with the sole purpose of cashing in on the fondness people have for the original movie and nothing more.”
Curtis was quick to respond to the criticism in the post’s comments writing, “SEEMS a TAD HARSH. SOME people LOVE it. Me being one.”
And audiences seem to be on her side. “Freakier Friday” currently sits at 73% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, but a 93% audience score, suggesting that, just like in the original, sometimes moms (and kids) really do know what’s best.
Whether it’s the nostalgia factor, the star power of Curtis or simply the enduring appeal of watching kids switch lives with their mom or grandma, “Freakier Friday” shows there’s still appeal in the formula.
“Freakier Friday” may not have topped the weekend charts, but with strong audience scores and a bigger opening than the 2003 original, the sequel has already flipped expectations, and maybe even a few critics’ minds.
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