The creative minds who brought us Netflix’s Cobra Kai, the spinoff of the hit ’80s movie The Karate Kid, are at it again. This time, they’re building Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, from teen movie king John Hughes, the late writer-director who brought us classics like 16 Candles, Pretty in Pink, and The Breakfast Club.
That’s right! A Ferris Bueller’s Day Off spinoff is officially in the works at Paramount Pictures! Variety confirms that Jon Hurwtiz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald are producing Sam and Victor’s Day Off, a spinoff that takes place on the same day as the original movie but that will feature different characters. This is the same producing team that made Cobra Kai, and Dina Hillier, their head of development, is also set to executive produce.
Key & Peele’s Paul Young will also produce through his company, Make Good Content. Bill Posley, who wrote for Cobra Kai, will pen the original screenplay, while David Katzenberg (It, The Goldbergs) will direct. This will be the first time anyone has attempted to spin off a Hughes movie. Fingers crossed that they get it right!
Katzenberg’s involvement is the latest news on the movie, which was first announced back in 2022 with few details since, so don’t expect to see it in theaters anytime soon. At this point, it seems likely for a 2025 release window, at the earliest.
Wait … so who are Sam and Victor?
In the original 1986 film, Ferris (Matthew Broderick) convinces his best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck) and girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara) to skip school and take Cameron’s dad’s Ferrari into Chicago for a day of adventure. While there, they famously leave the pricey sports car with a pair of parking valets while they explore the Art Institute of Chicago, go to a Cubs game, and sing “Twist and Shout” on a Von Steuben Day parade float … as one does.
Unbeknownst to them, the valets take the car on a joy ride that puts way more miles onto the odometer than they can hide from Cameron’s dad. Sam and Victor are those valets.
Sam and Victor’s Day Off is the story of what those two minor characters do during their day off with the Ferrari. Larry “Flash” Jenkins (who passed away in 2019) and Richard Edson played the characters in the original film, but the parts were so small they didn’t even have character names in the original script. There’s no word yet on who might be cast as the title characters in the new movie.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was a huge box office success back in 1986, raking in $70 million domestically to become the 10th highest grossing film of the year. Since then, it has gained more fans thanks to home video and streaming, and it’s still a huge part of the pop culture lexicon almost 40 years later.
I’m glad to see the Bueller world expanding further, even if I am a bit disappointed the spinoff won’t be about Abe Froman. What? He is the Sausage King of Chicago, after all! Seems like a missed opportunity, but what do I know?
(featured image: Paramount Pictures)
