Disney edges closer to that discount with another Cheaper By The Dozen remake

Zach Braff and Gabrielle Union give having a lot of kids a 2022 update for Disney+

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  February 8, 2022 | 2:38am
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Disney edges closer to that discount with another Cheaper By The Dozen remake
Cheaper By The Dozen Screenshot: YouTube

Somehow not a TV series, Disney+’s Cheaper By The Dozen remake is another crack at an irresistible premise: What if a family had a lot of kids. This time, though, it’ll be Alex Inc. himself, Zach Braff, stepping into the Steve Martin-Clifton Webb role as the patriarch of what must be a very, very wealthy family. Gabrielle Union takes over for Bonnie Hunt and Myrna Loy as a mother who likes spending time with many children. How will they manage?

If you aren’t familiar with the plot of Cheaper By The Dozen, it’s basically The Brady Bunch (or Blended, for Gen Z crowd). Father of five Zach Braff marries mother of five Gabrielle Union, and despite the title, they’re not doing this to get some kind of discount. Instead, they like being a large family in a gigantic house that would give the McCallisters a run for their money.

The trailer shows that the couple can barely make it all work. Waking the kids up is hard, learning their TikTok dances is easy, and finding the right balance with other parents is tricky because Braff and Union actually like their kids.

All of this isn’t surprising. Since launching the streamer, Disney has been dusting off dormant franchises to slap on their streaming service. Cheaper By The Dozen follows in the tradition of the recently-canceled Turner & Hooch series, the live-action remake of Lady And The Tramp, a Black Beauty remake we’re just learning about now (but swear exists), and the immediately memory-holed Home Sweet Home Alone. Who could forget a title like “Home Sweet Home Alone?”

Based on the novel by Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, the original Cheaper By The Dozen came out in 1950, with its sequel, Belles On Its Toes, arriving two years later. In 2003, a Steve Martin-led remake became a box-office hit, inspiring a 2005 sequel, Cheaper By The Dozen 2.

This updated Cheaper is directed by Gail Lerner and written by Kenya Barris and Grown-ish writer Jenifer Rice-Genzuk Henry. Barris is a modern master of the modern remake/legacy sequel/reboot game, having shepherded updates of The Witches, Coming To America, Shaft, and now Cheaper By The Dozen into existence. By A.V. Club standards, he’s something of a legend of C-grade movies—though his Big rework, Little, did eke out a B-.

The real question is if Disney ever gets around to making a dozen Cheaper By The Dozens, who gets the savings, or is it a punchcard scenario? We’ll find out on March 18 when Cheaper By The Dozen hits Disney+.

 
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