Jane Fonda reuniting with Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton on '9 to 5' sequel for #MeToo era
We live in an age of reboots and sequels — and in the era of #MeToo. With that in mind, there might be no property better suited for a second installment than 9 to 5, the hit 1980 comedy starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton as office colleagues who band together to fight back against their creepy misogynistic boss (played by Dabney Coleman). Thus, fans were more than a bit excited to hear that, according to Fonda, a follow-up is in the works — and it’ll reunite its legendary leading-lady trio.
Speaking at the Television Critics Association panel for her new HBO documentary Jane Fonda in Five Acts, the Hollywood icon let it be known that plans are moving full-speed ahead on the film. Moreover, Fonda revealed that her illustrious co-stars — one of whom, Tomlin, currently stars with Fonda on Netflix’s Grace and Frankie — are onboard for more anti-chauvinism comedy, especially since Fonda believes the situation for women in the workplace is “worse” than it was at the time of the original.
“My role is as an executive producer, and I’m working with the writers, with Lily, and talking to the writers. Right now, Dolly, Lily, and I are all intending to be in it. … Today, a lot of the workforce is hired by an outside company, so if there’s a problem, who do you complain to? Who do you fight with? Plus, with social media and the internet, you can be spied on very easily. … I do think sexual harassment will tend to drop, because guys are scared.”
Fonda’s comments follow Parton’s own vocal support for — and enthusiasm about — a new 9 to 5, which she expressed in March to Nightline, saying, “All these years we’ve talked about doing a sequel to 9 to 5 and it never made any real sense until just recently. We decided that we are going to do another one. We are trying to get the script and all that. Everyone is very interested and we’ve all agreed that we’d love to do it if it’s right.”
Speculation about a sequel began in February, when Deadline reported that 20th Century Fox was interested in a new version of the 1980 smash, which grossed $103.2 million domestically and spawned both a 1982-to-1988 ABC sitcom starring Valerie Curtin, Rachel Dennison, and Rita Moreno, as well as a 2009 Broadway musical. At that time, the studio wanted creator Patricia Resnick to partner with a younger writer — Rashida Jones’s name was floated — on the script.
Aside from Fonda’s confirmation that she, Tomlin, and Parton will be back, no other concrete details about the movie have yet to be released. But it sure seems like the three are ready to punch their timecards any minute now.
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