Poster © Warner Bros. Pictures. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreComedy, Drama & Fantasy
RatedPG-13
Runtime1 hr 42 mins
ReleasedApril 17, 2009
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorBurr Steers
StarringZac Efron, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon
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17 Again (2009)
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| 17 Again's Details | |
| Genre | Comedy, Drama & Fantasy |
| Rated | PG-13 |
| Released | 04/17/2009 |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 1 hr 42 mins |
| Budget | $40M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| 17 Again's Interests | |
| General | Varsity jackets, trophy cases, do-overs, school dances, Ned's wall of nerdy collectibles. |
| Music | Rolfe Kent |
| Movies | Big (1988). Same wish, opposite direction. |
| Television | Friends. Grown-up Mike already owned a famous couch. |
| Heroes | Ned Gold. Rich, nerdy and the most loyal friend in the movie. |
| 17 Again's Crew | |
| Director | Burr Steers |
| Writers | Jason Filardi |
| Producers | Jennifer Gibgot, Adam Shankman |
| Cinematography | Tim Suhrstedt |
| Music | Rolfe Kent |
| Edited By | Padraic McKinley |
| Production | New Line Cinema, Offspring Entertainment |
| Distributed By | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Run Big in reverse, add a basketball and a locker, and you’ve got 17 Again. A tired dad gets a magical do-over, learns the life he resented was the good part all along, and you can call every beat from the opening game. A few setups around the family get awkward in ways the movie never quite figures out how to handle. What saves it is Zac Efron, who’s much funnier than the role needs. He plays a grown man stuck in a teenager’s body with real cranky-dad energy, giving lunchroom bullies the kind of speech that usually comes with a curfew. Thomas Lennon steals the whole movie as Ned, a rich, lonely nerd who romances the principal over a dinner date partly spoken in Elvish. Leslie Mann deserved more scenes. It made $136.3 million worldwide on a reported $40M. A 5.8 because Efron and Lennon are a blast and the story runs on autopilot. $130.04 says you try on your old team jersey this weekend and blame the dryer for how it fits.
What works: Zac Efron shows real comic timing as a grown-up stuck in a teen body, and Thomas Lennon’s lovable nerd gets the biggest laughs.
What doesn’t: The story follows the do-over formula beat for beat, and Leslie Mann and Matthew Perry get far too little to do.
Who it’s for: Families with teens who want an easy, feel-good comedy night with a little heart in it.
Spoilers
At the big game, Mike walks off the court to chase Scarlet again, the same choice he made in 1989, and this time it turns him back into his grown-up self. The divorce is off, and Mike ends up back at his old school as the basketball coach.
In 1989, Mike O'Donnell (Zac Efron) is a high school basketball star with a scholarship nearly locked up, until he walks off the court mid-game to go after his girlfriend Scarlet. Twenty years later, grown-up Mike (Matthew Perry) is stuck: passed over at work, his marriage to Scarlet (Leslie Mann) ending, his teenagers Maggie (Michelle Trachtenberg) and Alex (Sterling Knight) barely talking to him. One chat with a strange janitor and one fall off a bridge later, Mike is seventeen again. He moves in with his best friend Ned (Thomas Lennon) and enrolls at his old school. Burr Steers directs. One hundred two minutes, one do-over.
Anyone who would do high school differently. Bring your old jersey.
| Matthew Perry / Zac Efron | Mike O'Donnell / Mark Gold |
| Leslie Mann | Scarlet Porter O'Donnell |
| Thomas Lennon | Ned Gold |
| Michelle Trachtenberg | Maggie O'Donnell |
| Melora Hardin | Principal Jane Masterson |
| Sterling Knight | Alex O'Donnell |
| Hunter Parrish | Stan |
| Nicole Sullivan | Naomi |
| Kat Graham, Tiya Sircar | Jamie |
| Melissa Ordway | Jamie |
| Brian Doyle-Murray | Janitor |
| Josie Loren | Nicole |
| Jim Gaffigan | Coach Murphy |
| Margaret Cho | Mrs. Dell |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 18 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 6.4 / 10 (234,853 votes) → 6.4 / 10 (234,876 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +480 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $136.3M; Domestic box office $64.2M; Opening weekend $23.7M; Profit / loss (est.) +$8.2M; Rotten Tomatoes 57%; CinemaScore A−; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 57% (148 reviews); Metacritic 48 / 100; CinemaScore A−; IMDb users 6.4 / 10 (234,853 votes); movie.guru score 4.7.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.