A Fetch New Film: Mean Girls Gets a Musical Makeover
Calling all plastics, cool moms, and girls who don’t even go here! A New Mean Girls movie musical is officially in the works; check out the latest details, and soak up the awesomeness of North Shore’s newest students.
‘Grool’ news: Mean Girls is coming back to the big screen and it’s bigger and better than ever. The new film will bring to life Mean Girls: the Musical, an original Broadway musical based on the original film that ran from 2018 to 2021 and is currently in production following the announcement of its full cast. The film will once again be written and produced by Tina Fey, and she will reprise her role of teacher Ms. Norbury. Unlike the stage musical, in which Ms. Norbury, Ms. Heron, and Mrs. George are portrayed by the same actress, the film has cast Jenna Fischer and Busy Philipps as Ms. Heron and Mrs. George. Lorne Micheals, creator and executive producer of Saturday Night Live, will produce alongside Fey, with music by Jeff Richmond and Nell Benjamin, and choreography from Kyle Hanagami.
Cady Heron will be portrayed by Australian Actress Angourie Rice. At just 22 years old, Rice has landed major roles in over 27 films and television shows. Most notably, Rice plays Betty Brant, a preppy student reporter, alongside Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon in Marvel’s ongoing Spiderman franchise. Rice has shown her passion for music across her social media, and even contributed to the soundtrack of HBO’s Mare of Easttown in which she also acted in a supporting role; however, this will be Rice’s first major musical role, and fans can anticipate seeing her vocal chops on full display.
As for the plastics, Karen Smith and Gretchen Weiners will be portrayed by Avantika Vandanapu and Bebe Wood. The almighty queen-bee, Regina George, will be played by musician and actress Renee Rapp; she recently made her on-screen debut in HBO’s The Sex Lives of College Girls, in which she plays Leighton Murray. The character of Regina George is arguably one of the most iconic, and intimidating, in cinema history, leaving Rapp with some big shoes to fill; luckily, Rapp is well acquainted with the apex-predator of North Shore High. Before her success in Hollywood, Rapp had an undying love for the stage. At just 18, Rapp won the National High School Musical Theater Award for Best Performance by an Actress for her performance as Sandra Bloom in Big Fish, and at 19, Rapp made her Broadway debut as Regina George in Mean Girls: The Musical. Rapp starred in the show from 2019 up until it officially closed in 2021.
Likewise, Damian Hubbard will be played by another broadway alum, Jaquel Spivey, who recently starred in the Tony Award-winning musical A Strange Loop. Auli’I Cravalho is branching out from her princess-roots; the Moana actress, who also starred as Ariel in ABC’s The Little Mermaid Live!, is stepping into the gritty and rebellious role of Janis Sarkisian. Mean Girls would be incomplete without it’s leading man, Aaron Samuels: the object of Cady’s affections, despite his tumultuous on-again-off-again relationship with Regina. Samuels will be played by Christopher Briney; most recently, Briney starred in the award winning Dalíland (2022) alongside Suki Waterhouse and Oscar winning actor Ben Kingsley. While Briney has yet to showcase his musical prowess, he’s certain to bring the charm to Aaron Samuels; the 25 year old had audiences swooning over his performance as Conrad in the 2022 Prime original, The Summer I Turned Pretty. Briney’s role in the new film is sure to solidify his heartthrob status. Mean Girls: The Musical is currently in production; however, its release date remains unknown. Additionally, it is currently untold if the film will have a theatrical release, but it will be available to stream on Paramount Plus, and all updates about the production can be found on @meangirls on Instagram.