Everything we know about the ‘Grease’ spinoff, ‘Grease: Rydell High’
The “Summer Nights” are going to live on! HBO has ordered a spinoff of Grease for the new HBO Max streaming service. Titled Grease: Rydell High, the show will bring some depth to the iconic musical, showing what the entire school year at Rydell High was like. Grease: Rydell High still focuses on the iconic characters of the original Grease.
Grease: Rydell High got a straight-to-series order from HBO Max, with Paramount Television producing. Paramount Television is the same company behind the 2016 Grease Live! on Fox, so they’ve already experienced giving the world a great version of Grease.
While no cast or crew have been announced yet, there’s plenty of information about what to expect from the new show. Here’s what we know so far.
We’re going back to 1958 Rydell High
Grease: Rydell High wants to fill in some of the blanks left behind by the original film. The show will take us back to Rydell High with Danny, Sandy, Rizzo, Frenchy, and the gang while introducing some new faces. We’ll get the full school year that was only partly shown in the original film.
Grease: Rydell High’s writers room will explore the peer pressure struggles we partially saw in the original film, as well as life in 1950s middle America.
The iconic songs may have to be skipped
If you’re going to make a Grease spinoff, you have to make it a musical. WarnerMedia Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt says the show will combine new and old music together to create a fun rock and roll musical.
However, the rights to the original songs like “Grease Lighting” and “You’re the One That I Want” are currently held by the estate of composers Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. It’s unknown at this time if Paramount Television will be able to secure the rights to the original songs.
This isn’t the only upcoming version of Grease
Paramount Television is working on Grease: Rydell High, but Paramount Players is working on a new Grease feature as well, currently in pre-production. The new film is planned as a prequel, showing exactly what happened during those “Summer Nights” before the first film started. Legendary writer John August (Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) wrote the script.
It’s unknown when Grease: Rydell High will premiere, as HBO Max won’t debut until spring 2020. But as more details come out about Grease: Rydell High, we’ll keep you updated right here at Film Daily.
