Private Benjamin is reenlisting! More than 30 years after the release of the original Private Benjamin movie starring Goldie Hawn, a reboot is in the works.
News broke this week that New Line was developing a modern take on the celebrated comedy and the upcoming film has already found its star. Pitch Perfect funnywoman Rebel Wilson will lead Private Benjamin.
The Hawn version is a beloved movie, which earned a spot on the American Film Institute’s 100 Funniest Movies list. Also featuring Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante, and Robert Webber, Private Benjamin made $69.85 million at the box office on a reported $10 million budget and earned three Academy Award nominations.
Released in 1980, Private Benjamin told the story of Hawn’s character, Judy Benjamin, who enlists after her husband dies while they are having sex on their wedding night—leaving her floundering.
According to Variety, Wilson, 28, will star in the re-up as a “redneck” Private Benjamin who joins the Marines in order to get out of a tough spot. Mark Gordon (Grey’s Anatomy) will produce the project, which is currently without a director.
In addition to her reprisal of her Pitch Perfect character Fat Amy for the 2015 sequel, Wilson also lends her voice to Kung Fu Panda 3 with Angelina Jolie, Jack Black, and Dustin Hoffman, and appears in another sequel, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, with Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, and Owen Wilson.
