Cheaper By The Dozen Reboot - What We Know So Far
In 2003, 20th Century Fox released "Cheaper by the Dozen," a family comedy film directed by Shawn Levy starring Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt. Martin and Hunt play married couple Tom and Kate Baker who have quite a big family — 12 kids to be exact. The ensemble cast of kids includes actors Piper Perabo, Tom Welling, Hilary Duff, and Alyson Stoner. A sequel with the entire cast reprising their roles was released in 2005.
The 2003 film is actually a remake of a film of the same name from 1950 by director Walter Lang, starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy as the parents of 12 children. That film is based on the 1948 semi-autobiographical novel by siblings Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey about their childhood and upbringing in a family with 10 other siblings.
Now, a third iteration of "Cheaper by the Dozen" is in the works for Disney+, with Gabrielle Union and Zach Braff set to star as the married couple at the story's center (via SlashFilm). The new film will be written by "Black-Ish" creator Kenya Barris and "Grown-Ish" executive producer Jenifer Rice-Genzuk Henry. Since Union's and Braff's casting, more details have been revealed about the upcoming film. Here's everything we know so far about the "Cheaper by the Dozen" reboot, including release date, cast, and plot.
When will Cheaper by the Dozen be released?
As of now, there's no official release date for the new "Cheaper by the Dozen" reboot. However, we do know that we can expect to see it sometime in 2022, as confirmed by Disney in a tweet. Disney wrote that the new film will "debut on [Disney+] in 2022."
Earlier this year, Discussing Film reported that filming was slated to begin in July 2021. While there has been no official word on whether filming has wrapped, IMDB does have the upcoming reboot listed as in "post-production," so it's likely that filming has concluded.
To speculate further, we can look to another Disney+ original film, "Black Beauty," starring Mackenzie Foy with Kate Winslet in a leading voice role. "Black Beauty" began filming in October 2019, as reported by Deadline, and was subsequently released on November 27, 2020. Going off of "Black Beauty," the new "Cheaper by the Dozen" could release just about a year after the start of filming, give or take a month or two. This means we can most likely expect to see the upcoming family comedy midway through next year.
Who will be in Cheaper by the Dozen?
Per the original announcement, Gabrielle Union and Zach Braff will play the married couple at the head of the huge family. Union rose to fame for her roles in popular teen films of the 1990s and early 2000s, including 1999's "10 Things I Hate About You" and 2000's "Bring It On." More recently, she starred in the crime drama "L.A.'s Finest" from 2019 to 2020 as well as the BET drama "Being Mary Jane" from 2013 to 2019. Meanwhile, Braff, who made a name for himself while starring in the medical sitcom "Scrubs," recently led the ABC comedy "Alex, Inc." Braff is also an accomplished director, having directed several episodes of "Scrubs," the 2004 indie "Garden State," and an episode of "Ted Lasso," for which Braff received an Emmy nomination (via Deadline).
In February 2021, the actors portraying the children were announced: Journee Brown, Kylie Rogers, Andre Robinson, Caylee Blosenski, Aryan Simhadri, Leo A. Perry, Mykal-Michelle Harris, Christian Cote, Sebastian Cote, and Luke Prael (via Deadline). Many of these young actors are relative newcomers, but you may recognize Rogers as young Beth on "Yellowstone" or Harris as Santamonica on "Mixed-Ish."
Additional adult cast members include "Parenthood" star Erika Christensen and "Black-Ish" recurring cast member Brittany Daniel (via IMDB).
What is the plot of Cheaper by the Dozen?
This upcoming reboot will differ from the previous films in a few ways, beginning with one key detail: the married couple will have 10 children instead of 12. This means that the "dozen" in the title will refer to the entire family of 12, instead of a couple with 12 kids making up a family of 14 — but will likely be just as endearingly chaotic of a home as we saw in the 2003 film.
Further, the new version will feature a multi-racial, blended family, instead of the nuclear family we've seen depicted before, giving the 2022 film a much more modern spin. The official synopsis reveals that the comedy will center on this family of 12 as they navigate "a hectic home life while managing their family business," (via Variety). Currently, no details have been released about any of the characters.
The 2003 film saw the Baker family dealing with issues such as the family moving, the kids adjusting to new schools, Tom and Kate both struggling with a work-home balance, and the kids wanting more attention from their parents. The new film will likely tackle similar topics, as well as the unique challenges that can arise within a blended and multiracial family. Whatever the direction the film goes in, it's likely to be a charming, funny, family-friendly ride.