Jennifer Aniston Thinks She Can Do Dolly Parton Justice With ‘9 to 5’ Remake

If Jennifer Aniston really needed a cup of ambition, she could have just asked for one from Gunther.

Wednesday evening, The InSneider confirmed that the Friends star and her producing partner Kristin Hahn are working on a reimagining of the classic 1980 office comedy film 9 to 5, which starred American icon Dolly Parton and featured original music from the country legend. Along with inspiring one of Parton’s many Grammy-winning hit songs, the original 9 to 5 spun off into both a TV series and a Broadway musical adaptation, so the legacy of the film is as far-reaching as it is daunting for any filmmaker looking to put a 2024 spin on an iconic piece of Dollydom. 

But with Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody signed on to write the script of the remake, Aniston’s production company Echo Films believes that they’re up for the challenge — even if it means some late nights.

Just like the original, Aniston’s 9 to 5 will be distributed by 20th Century Fox, but the announcement of the remake was conspicuously absent of any mention of possible involvement from Parton herself — it’s enough to drive you crazy if you let it.

The original 9 to 5 tells the story of three working women, played by an absolute dream team of Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, who carry out a chaotic, improvised and often-times accidental effort to take down their “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot” boss, played by comedy legend and Beverly Hillbillies star Dabney Coleman. The film was Parton’s first proper vehicle in her acting career, and her music and performance carried 9 to 5 to more than $100 million at the box office (over $300 million today) on its way to the aforementioned adaptations.

Aniston’s past work has shown her to be a massive Parton fan, as she collaborated with the country singer on the music for her 2018, self-produced and self-starred Netflix film Dumplin’. In the movie, most of the characters spend the entire runtime talking about how much they love Parton, and Aniston, along with her co-star Danielle Macdonald, performed the original song “Push and Pull” with Parton on the soundtrack. Still, it remains to be seen if Aniston will convince the 78-year-old entertainment legend for another collaboration on 9 to 5.

Back in 2018, a possible sequel to 9 to 5 was reportedly in the works with Rashida Jones and original screenwriter Patricia Resnick attached to the project, but those plans quickly fell through. “I don’t think we’re going to do the sequel,” Parton told Entertainment Tonight in 2019. “We never could get the script where it was enough different than the first one, and that one turned out so good.”

Hopefully, Cody will be able to crank out a screenplay for the remake that is up to Parton’s standards, and the new 9 to 5 production doesn’t fall apart like the sequel did — it’d be a damn shame if Rachel had to return to her other 9 to 5.