While I Dream Jeannie seems like the sort of TV show Hollywood would have made into a movie by now, it’s never happened, but that isn’t for a lack of trying. Years ago there was a script by National Tresaure writer Cormac and Marianne Wibberley, then Mulan’s Rita Hsiao had a go, Gurinder Chadha became attached as director, Lindsay Lohan was going to play Jeannie, but for some reason it never happened (possibly because the similarly themed Bewitched flopped so badly).
However Sony doesn’t want to give up, and the LA Times reports that they’re giving the series another shot at the big screen by hiring playwright and United States Of Tara writer Sheila Callaghan to come up with a screenplay. She’s seen as a good bet, as one of the problems previous writers have faced is coming up with something with the flavour of the TV show, while appealing to modern sensibilities. More specifically, how to get around the fact it’s essentially about a woman (or at least a genie) who pretty much becomes a fawning slave to a man, and is literally there to fulfill his every wish. With Callaghan’s previous work often tackling feminist issues, she may be able to crack the problem.
However, as this project has had so many false starts, hiring a writer is a long way from saying they’ll actually make it this time, but at least they’re not giving up on I Dream Of Jeannie completely.