No matter how old you are, you never get over high school.
In Touchstone Pictures' new comedy “You Again,” successful PR girl Marni (Kristen Bell) heads home for her older brother’s wedding and discovers that he’s marrying her high school arch nemesis (Odette Yustman), who’s conveniently forgotten all the rotten things she did so many years ago.
Then the bride’s jet-setting aunt (Sigourney Weaver) bursts in and Marni’s not-so-jet-setting mom (Jamie Lee Curtis) comes face to face with her own high school rival. The claws come out and old wounds are opened in this crazy comedy about what happens when you’re reunited with the one person you’d like to forget.
First-time screenwriter Moe Jelline wrote “You Again” four years ago from an idea she had based upon her own life experience. Jelline reveals, “I’ve always been fascinated how high school is a blip in your life—four years—and yet somehow the emotional ups and downs can stay with some people for the rest of their lives. Anyone who’s ever thought twice about going to their high school reunion knows exactly what I’m talking about.”
She continues, “I have an adorable brother and, at the same time I was playing with this script idea, many of my friends were calling me asking if he was single, could they be set up, et cetera. And that thought was slightly horrifying—I mean, my brother dating one of my friends? Um, NO….”
Jelline considers, “Then, it occurred to me that it’s better that he wind up with someone that I like versus someone I don’t, and from that concept, another idea gelled that incorporated my high school experiences – what if your greatest nightmare came back to haunt you in a very permanent way? What if your high school nemesis was marrying your brother?” proposes Jelline.
And so, “You Again” was born.
Director Andy Fickman offers, “I loved the universal appeal of the script—everyone has someone from their past that made their life less than wonderful. In high school, those arch enemies can have an even more profound power on your daily existence. I found the more people I spoke with, the more everyone had a ‘You Again’ person from their past, regardless of age or gender.”
As for helming Moe Jelline’s script, Fickman admits, “Exploring this theme was very exciting and a perfect place to breed comedy.”
Opening soon across the Philippines, “You Again” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International through Columbia Pictures.
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