Ferris Bueller Spinoff – Producers, Director And More Info

“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is one of the best teen movies of all time, but it also (perhaps purposely) tells its story from a very privileged point-of-view. I adore the John Hughes classic, yet the last few times I’ve watched it, I’ve been struck by how terribly Ferris (Matthew Broderick) treats the customer service workers he meets throughout the film. It’s all a part of his schtick; to craft the perfect day off, he has to get access to all sorts of fun stuff, and the quickest way to do that is by putting on a haughty, rich-white guy persona that he probably learned from his dad.

It may be blasphemous to even consider adding a new layer to a perfect Hughes-made story, but if someone’s going to do it, it may as well be a filmmaker who’s interested in approaching the material from a truly fresh angle. Enter: “Sam and Victor’s Day Off,” a spinoff film that’s reportedly been in development since 2022. Ferris had his day in the sun, but now the fourth-wall-breaking saga will turn its attention to two characters in the original film who were so minor, they didn’t even have names in the credits. Here’s everything we know about “Sam and Victor’s Day Off” so far.

The upcoming “Ferris Bueller” spinoff is set to re-tell the story of the fateful Chicago day that saw Ferris and friends play hooky from school, only this time it’ll tell it from the point-of-view of the film’s valets. Originally played by Richard Edson (“Do The Right Thing”) and Larry Flash Jenkins (“Fletch”), the two characters who “park” Cameron’s dad’s car for the day were credited simply as “Garage Attendant” and “Attendant’s Co-Pilot.”

Despite only appearing for a moment, the two characters play a memorable part in the original film’s don’t-get-caught plot. They appear in a scene that’s a bit of a Rorschach test for viewers. From one perspective (likely the one Hughes intended), the attendant seems sketchy, as he’s a bit unkempt and seems to be late to work, punching his time card right before he meets Ferris and friends. From another, though, he’s just a normal young guy doing his job who’s undercut immediately by Ferris’ racist presumptions (“Do you speak English?” he asks by way of greeting), Cameron’s snarky remark and side-eye, and the pair’s demand for VIP treatment.

Whether you consider it petty crime or just karma, what happens next is inarguable: the attendant takes the Ferrari for a day-long joy ride, picking up a friend around the corner from the parking garage and, at one point, catching air by taking the car over a hill at 100mph. “Sam and Victor’s Day Off” aims to give these two opportunistic gents names and a full narrative, telling the story of their own wild day which ends, in the film, with the pair returning the car to Cameron … with 175 additional miles on the odometer.

In February 2024, The Hollywood Reporter announced David Katzenberg as the director chosen to make this spinoff a reality. Not to be confused with DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, David has directed TV shows like the emergency responders drama “9-1-1: Lone Star,” wild teen soap “Riverdale,” and popular sitcoms “The Goldbergs” (which he executive produced) and “New Girl.” He’s also directed two Dwayne Johnson projects, “Young Rock” and “Ballers,” and co-created and wrote the teen comedy series “The Hard Times of R.J. Berger.”

While “Sam and Victor’s Day Off” marks Katzenberg’s feature directorial debut, he’s also worked in film, producing the 2017 mega-hit “IT” and its sequel, plus the “Child’s Play” reboot and the upcoming sequel “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.” (He’s specifically listed as an executive producer on the latter film and “IT: Chapter Two”). Katzenberg retweeted the news about his upcoming movie when it broke and refers to himself as the “Work Wife” of “R.J. Berger” co-creator, bestselling author, and screenwriter-producer Seth Grahame-Smith on his Twitter profile.

The producing team behind “Sam and Victor’s Day Off” has already made one unlikely ’80s reboot mega-popular: Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg are the same people who brought us “Cobra Kai,” the “Karate Kid” continuation that we didn’t know we needed. The larger “Karate Kid”-verse continues to grow, but as “Cobra Kai” itself winds down with its sixth and final season (check out the trailer), Heald, Hurwitz, and Schlossberg will be able to turn their attention to pulling off a spinoff for a film that’s arguably even more classic.

Along with the above trio, producers on the project include Argyle Media’s Paul Young, with Benji Kleiman, Scott Yacyshyn, and Stephen Cedars associate producing according to THR. All four producers have worked together on the horror TV series “Snatchers,” while Young was an executive producer on both “black-ish” and “Key & Peele.”

Previous reporting from Deadline indicated that the movie will be penned by Bill Posley, who has written for Apple TV’s “Shrinking” and the Kenan Thompson-led sitcom “Kenan,” among other projects. Posley also worked as a story editor on “Cobra Kai.”

If you’d like to re-up your “Ferris Bueller” knowledge before the new film’s release (it does not yet have a release date), Hughes’ 1986 classic is available as of July 2024 to stream on Hulu, Paramount+, Fubo, and Freeform in the United States. If you don’t have any of those subscriptions, you can rent or purchase the film digitally from all the usual suspects, including Apple TV and Amazon. It also tends to play on linear TV. Like, a lot.

“Ferris Bueller” completionists will have a tougher time catching up: the short-lived 1990 TV series, which starred a young Jennifer Aniston and only aired 13 episodes before cancellation, is currently nowhere to be found on streaming services in the United States. Along with Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, and Jennifer Grey starred in the original film. We’ll keep you posted with casting updates and more information for “Sam and Victor’s Day Off.”