Grease 3

Hot on the heels of the success of musicals like Chicago and Moulin Rouge, Paramount Pictures has given the green light to a third installment of the Grease franchise to be set in the ‘70’s disco era. No official word from Paramount, but it was reported that the studio is looking at different writers to develop the screenplay. Unlike 1982’s Grease 2, which featured a new cast including Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer, this installment will focus on the children of the original lovebirds Danny (John Travolta) and Sandy (Olivia Newton-John).

Didi Conn, who played Frenchie in the first two installments, apparently pitched the idea to Paramount head Sherry Lansing who ran with it. Conn has since been named executive producer. Producers hope to see a return of the original cast of T-Birds and Pink Ladies, and there have been recent reports of verbal agreements by Travolta and Newton-John to reprise their roles. The 1978 musical that put Travolta on the map grossed $181 million domestically and about $380 million worldwide. Paramount successfully re-released the movie for its 20-year anniversary in 1998.

Three years ago, the boy band *N Sync announced they were developing their own script for Grease 3, starring the members of the band and pop tart Britney Spears. It seems Britney and the boys will not be involved in this production. As with every sequel to a movie, the hopes are to re-create the success of the original. It is a rare occasion when the sequel is better than the original. Hopefully Grease 3 doesn’t follow the same path as Grease 2.