Dead Ringers reboot: Rachel Weisz to star and executive produce

Rachel Weisz is set to star in and executive produce the Dead Ringers reboot

The last few years have been all about reboots. Whether it’s movies becoming shows or rebooting movies from decades earlier, it’s all about turning them into something for today’s world. The Dead Ringers reboot is set to be much the same.

Amazon has picked up the show straight to series. That means no pilot was filmed. There’s been no look inside what to expect to see if it could be a success, something that Amazon has started doing a lot.

Rachel Weisz will both star in and executive produce the series, according to Deadline. Normal People‘s writer Alice Birch is also set to write this reboot.

A gender swap of the cult classic

Many people will know about the 1980s movie Dead Ringer starring Jeremy Irons in the lead roles of identical twins. Nobody could tell them apart, which helped the characters carry out some questionable and illegal research.

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Well, it turns out that the Dead Ringer reboot is going to be a gender swap of the series. Weisz will now play the two twins, who want to change the way women give birth. They’ll carry out some highly illegal research, using their ability to make people think they’re each other to their advantage.

While there will be a similar feel, there is going to be a different tone. The new series will focus on women’s health, a topic that is coming up more and more in recent years. There are a lot of stories of women losing autonomy during pregnancy and labor, which I suspect this series will touch on since the twins are OB-GYNs.

Pitching during the pandemic

The Dead Ringers reboot has been in the works for two years. It’s a passion project for Weisz. However, it wasn’t pitched to networks until during the pandemic, all done via Zoom.

Amazon jumped straight in with a straight-to-series offer. It’s not clear if anyone else was interested or wanted to see a pilot first.

The writers’ room is now currently being staffed virtually and the work will begin right away.

Unlike the movie, the Dead Ringers reboot is going to be a series. There are no words on the number of episodes just yet, but Amazon tends to stick with eight to 10 episodes per season. This hasn’t been promoted as a limited series.

What do you hope to see in the Dead Ringers reboot? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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