Heaven Can Wait (film)

Heaven Can Wait is a 1978 comedy film directed by Warren Beatty and Buck Henry. The screenplay, by Beatty, Elaine May, and an uncredited Robert Towne, is adapted from the original stage play Heaven Can Wait by Harry Segall. Heaven Can Wait is a remake of the 1941 film Here Comes Mr Jordan, and was again remade in 2001 as Down To Earth.

The story follows Joe Pendleton, a backup quarterback for the American football team Los Angeles Rams, who is looking forward to leading his team to the Super Bowl, when he is involved in a terrible collision with a truck. A guardian angel on his first assignment plucks Joe out of his body early in the mistaken belief that his death is imminent, and Pendleton arrives in the afterlife. It is then decided that Pendleton was taken too soon, but as it is too late to return him to his former body he is given a second chance as a millionaire who had been drowned by his lover and secretary. The film follows him taking this opportunity to life the life he missed out on.

Not to be confused with the unrelated 1943 film of the same name.

Tropes associated with this work:

 * Afterlife Antechamber
 * It Is Not Your Time
 * Lie to the Beholder
 * The Remake: Both is a remake and has a remake.
 * Theme Song Assonance