It’s time to dust off our lavish red dresses and welcome Celeste Talbert back into our lives! It was recently announced that Soapdish will be getting a modern makeover. News broke loose that Paramount+ has gotten their hands on a reboot of the 1991 comedy film.
Soapdish dips into the drama-filled lives of the cast and crew of a fictional soap opera called The Sun Also Sets. The movie, which is currently streaming on Hulu, has an all-star cast, welcoming Robert Downey Jr., Sally Field, Whoopi Goldberg, and Elisabeth Shue in leading roles.
As the story plays out, viewers get lost in the raunchy satire of it all — the illustrious love affairs, the sabotage, and the ridiculous antics that occur behind-the-scenes antics on the fake set. Throughout the flick, Downey’s David Barnes is driven to madness by the allure of television star Montana Moorehead and she enlists him to help her bring down the soap opera star Celeste Talbert (Field).
Soapdish remake hitting Paramount+
On Monday, it was announced that this classic comedy will be getting a reboot as part of a partnership between CBS and the NAACP. It will premiere on the CBS-owned streaming platform Paramount+.
TV Line confirmed that the reboot will be a series and will star The Stand’s Goldberg, 66, reprising her previous role as Rose Schwartz — Celeste’s biggest ally and the scriptwriter of The Sun Also Sets. The actor will also serve as an executive producer. A cast has not been set for this project, but more details are expected soon.
Hopefully, it gets a modern makeover
While this is great news, especially to the ears of those who loved the original movie, one question still remains: Will they modernize the ending? Unfortunately, while the movie has achieved critical acclaim, locking down a 71 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, its ending falls short by its reliance on cheap, transphobic jokes.
Soapdish (1991) was reviewed in 2021 by Ultimate Movie Year’s Mark Ciemcioch. He praised the comedy for its great performances and comedic value, but addressed that it ended on a “sour note.” Ciemcioch wrote, “There’s a black mark on the film, and it’s a final climactic reveal. It is grounded in a transphobic joke in such poor taste that it becomes a blemish for the preceding 90 minutes.”
While recognizing that Soapdish isn’t the only 90s flick to villanize the transgender community, it still doesn’t make the unnecessary reveal any easier to digest. He added, “What makes this moment especially damaging is that it wasn’t a throwaway joke but a key plot point in the finale of a movie, making us all recontextualize the entire film.”
However, given Goldberg’s long history as an LGBT ally (even being honored by the Human Rights Campaign in 2013), there is hope that Soapdish will get things right this time around.
Soapdish (1991) is currently streaming on Hulu.