August 10, 2018
Freaky Friday is an American musical television film that premiered as a Disney Channel Original Movie on August 10, 2018. Based on the 1972 book and the 2016 stage adaptation; the movie is the fourth feature film installment in the franchise. The adaptation stars Cozi Zuehlsdorff and Heidi Blickenstaff.
Storyline
The film starts off with Ellie and her two friends, Karl and Monica, discussing an annual school-wide scavenger hunt. Ellie's brother Fletcher comes in and does a magic trick, but she is unimpressed. Fletcher steals an hourglass that Ellie's late father had given to her. Meanwhile, Katherine Blake is preparing for her impending wedding to her fiancé Mike. Katherine wishes that Ellie would take more responsibility for herself, while Ellie wishes her mother would understand what it is like to be her. When Katherine follows Ellie to her room they fight over the hourglass and switch bodies. They must find the identical hourglass given to Katherine, but Katherine sold hers. Katherine goes to Ellie's school and Ellie stays at the house.
The bulk of the film deals with the comic fallout resulting from the body-switching. Katherine (as Ellie) deals with bullying from mean girl Savannah and commiserates with Ellie's crush Adam, while Ellie (as Katherine) does her best to prepare for the wedding. At the same time, they discover that the missing hourglass has been purchased as an item for the school scavenger hunt.
"Ellie" takes Fletcher on a walk and tells him that parents lie and he will never go to Vegas. He becomes upset and runs away. Adam finds Fletcher and convinces him to return home. Adam then says that he might consider putting the hourglass on the list.
"Katherine" tells Mike she loves him and resolves to treat Fletcher better. "Ellie" obtains the hourglass in a fight with Savannah and wins the hunt. She then goes to the wedding and attempts to switch bodies with the real Ellie, but it does not work. The wedding starts, but she stops it and declares how much she loves Katherine, which causes them to switch back and they reconcile.