The 2025 reboot of Freaky Friday, titled Freakier Friday, premiered at the Sydney Opera House with a wave of anticipation and an unexpected sense of emotional weight. While the film delivers its expected humour and warmth, its deeper value lies in what it represents for the two actors at its centre, and for the creative industry at large: a sincere reflection on the art of beginning again.
Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis return not as nostalgic icons but as individuals who have evolved. Their performances illustrate the nuanced reality of reinvention, an act that is rarely seamless but often necessary. Freakier Friday becomes, at its core, a narrative about resilience, not through dramatic declarations, but through quiet growth.
In the realm of creative business, this idea holds relevance far beyond the screen.
What Makes This Freakier Friday Feel Different?
The original Freaky Friday relied heavily on chaos and caricature. The 2025 iteration does not disregard those elements, but instead frames them through a more mature lens. The comedic beats are intact, yet they are surrounded by pauses that allow both characters and audiences to process emotional shifts.The film respects time. It does not rush. It allows space for characters to embody the weight of lived experience. Curtis and Lohan do not merely reprise their roles; they reshape them. Their presence signals that age and growth are not obstacles to creativity; they are its fuel.
This form of storytelling, which balances tension and transformation, mirrors the evolutionary path of many creative professionals. It's a journey rarely linear, frequently unexpected, and often defined by setbacks.
Lindsay Lohan Knows How to Start Over in Full View
Lindsay Lohan’s return to film is marked not by spectacle, but by restraint. In Freakier Friday, her performance feels measured, self-assured, and deeply human. It is the performance of someone who has lived through disruption and has found clarity through the process.Her journey offers a compelling lesson in public reinvention. For years, her story was fragmented and defined by others. Here, she takes back control of her narrative. Her return is presented not as a comeback, but as a continuous evolution built on experience.
This mirrors the reality for many creatives who find themselves revisiting work after significant personal or professional upheaval. The challenge is not simply to “return,” but to re-enter with purpose, structure, and support. That is the mark of sustainable creative longevity.
Jamie Lee Curtis Brings the Long View Into Focus
Jamie Lee Curtis brings depth to the reboot by embodying continuity without clinging to the past. She plays her role with a firm understanding of who the character was, and who she has become. This reflects a broader truth about endurance in creative professions: consistency matters as much as innovation.Curtis's involvement goes beyond simply reprising a successful role; she brings a mature perspective to the part, demonstrating how to navigate evolving values and expectations.
Her on-screen presence illustrates a truth many industry veterans instinctively grasp: progress isn't a rejection of the past, but rather a natural extension of it. Her work underscores that lasting success in creative industries hinges on adaptability, professionalism, and ongoing improvement.
The Era of Creative Comebacks is Changing
In today’s media landscape, public returns are often packaged for maximum impact. They are expected to be loud, dramatic, and headline-grabbing. Freakier Friday challenges that expectation. Its impact is quieter—but perhaps more lasting. The film does not rely on nostalgia to carry it. It earns its place through performance and tone.This approach reflects broader shifts in the creative economy. Artists and rights holders are seeking more sustainable models of success. Flashy launches are giving way to more deliberate structures: smarter publishing deals, cleaner revenue splits, and automated backend systems that support long-term viability.
At Creative Splits, we witness these transformations daily. We partner with creators and businesses who prioritise long-term careers and lasting catalogues over fleeting visibility. This requires robust infrastructure: clean metadata, transparent rights tracking, automated payments, and clear agreements with every collaborator.
Falling Forward is Part of the Work
Failure remains one of the most misunderstood forces in the creative economy. It is frequently seen as a signal to stop, rather than a tool for course correction. Freakier Friday explores this with grace. The characters in the film do not reappear stronger because they have waited. They reappear stronger because they have worked through disappointment, doubt, and emotional tension.The same holds true in the business of content creation. Failed releases. Delayed payouts. Legal disputes. Difficult collaborations. These are not career-ending events; they are data points. They teach teams how to manage rights more clearly. How to choose partners more wisely. How to recover quickly and move forward with structure.
Those who succeed in the long term are not the ones who avoid mistakes. They are the ones who integrate those lessons into better systems, better strategies, and better relationships.
Lessons for Creative Businesses
While Freakier Friday succeeds as a film, it also functions as a metaphor for the work happening behind the scenes in music, film, publishing, and creative finance. The themes of accountability, maturity, and reinvention are not confined to the script. They reflect very real shifts in how creative professionals approach their careers.Digital rights management is becoming more precise. Cloud accounting software is replacing outdated spreadsheets. Working with a collecting society or navigating collection societies across borders is no longer viewed as administrative overhead; it is becoming a core component of business strategy.
Whether aligned with an author's licensing and collecting society or operating independently, creators are beginning to ask more intelligent questions about where their money goes, how it is split, and who controls the flow. And Creative Splits is helping answer those questions.
Transform the Way You Manage Creative Revenue and Rights
At Creative Splits, we help creators, producers, and publishers take the friction out of complex payment flows. Whether you’re navigating digital rights management, splitting royalties across territories, or working with a collecting society, we make it easier to move forward with clarity.Our platform supports authors, musicians, and digital creators who work across multiple jurisdictions, including those aligned with an authors licensing and collecting society or other collection societies, by automating key processes and reducing manual overhead.
We combine smart automation with cloud accounting software to streamline how digital rights and royalties are tracked, shared, and paid. So you can focus on your creative work without getting buried in spreadsheets.
Learn more about our Publishing and Licensing tools.
Whether you’re coordinating with a collecting society or managing your own licensing agreements, Creative Splits gives you the visibility and control to keep everything moving forward.
