The Baby Who Inspired ‘Look Who’s Talking’ Has Co-Written a Sequel

Hollywood loves to churn out ‘80s and ‘90s reboots, but they’re usually not written by the real-life inspirations behind the franchise. Like, if they ever bring Seinfeld back, it probably won’t be scripted by Kenny Kramer. And 2022’s Scream didn’t hire the Gainesville Ripper to be its screenwriter. 

But now it seems as though we may be getting a belated fourquel to one of the biggest comedies of the ‘80s, co-written by the woman who’s infancy inspired the story. We are, of course, talking about Look Who’s Talking. 

The original 1989 Look Who’s Talking starred Kirstie Alley as a single mother whose baby, Mikey, has an internal monologue that sounds just like Bruce Willis. The sequel, Look Who’s Talking Too, upped the ante by introducing a Roseanne Barr-voice kid, plus a hideous toilet monster voiced by Mel Brooks.

There was also a sitcom adaptation, Baby Talk, which George Clooney presumably won’t be too happy about us bringing up. The voice of the baby was provided by TV's more affordable alternative to Bruce Willis: Tony Danza. 

The third movie, Look Who’s Talking Now, gave up on the concept of children having interior lives and instead focused on dogs who similarly communicate telepathically using the voices of checked-out movie stars. 

While the franchise has been dead for over 30 years, now Amy Heckerling, who wrote and directed the first two movies (and produced the third), is reportedly working on Look Who’s Talking 4. According to the BBC, the script has been written and she is currently “waiting for feedback.” And, interestingly enough, Heckerling’s co-writer on the project is her daughter Mollie. 

Heckerling’s experience of becoming pregnant with Mollie is what inspired the story of Look Who’s Talking to begin with. In real life, filmmaker and Ghostbuster Harold Ramis was the father, following an affair. In the movie, Mikey’s biological father is a married businessman played by George Segal.

The true story was a secret for years; Heckerling once said that her friend, Midnight Run director Martin Brest, called Look Who’s Talking the “most profitable private joke ever.” But Ramis later confessed to his daughter Violet Ramis Stiel that the unflattering character was inspired by him, “Have you ever seen Look Who’s Talking? Well, you know that married asshole that gets Kirstie Alley’s character pregnant and then won’t leave his wife? That’s me.”

Mollie Heckerling, who was able to forge a relationship with Ramis before his death, will obviously have a unique perspective on this material. Although it’s unclear if the new movie will be about talking babies, or dogs, or move on to, say, fish or IKEA furniture.