It is undeniable that the original Mean Girls movie from 2004 is a cultural classic for the girls, the gays and the theys. No other piece of media to this day has achieved the spot of having almost all of its dialogues quoted as memes by people on the internet, and real life, frequently, and its own national day – Oct. 3rd – when the unspoken rule is to leave your house wearing pink or don’t bother to leave at all.
So, you might be wondering, if this masterpiece of filmography already exists, why should anyone risk producing a new one? Because, if you’re not aware, we are not talking about a reboot, but of an original film based on the Broadway show from 2018. Yes, that is a thing, so I guess we should add the theater kids to the list now.
There are a few reasons why the stage play made such huge success among the musical theater fans when it debuted. The piece written by Tina Fey (who also made the screenplay in 2004) was considered hilarious by the specialist critics at the time, she used the metaphor already brought by the first film of high school seen as a jungle in a very clever way, and even though if felt as a modernized version of “The Plastics” in the social media age, it came with a nostalgia sensation for the fans since nothing important from the original story was taken off. Fey is also responsible for the feature film script that is being developed, which is exciting, she knows and loves these characters entirely, and this makes the chances of success progressively higher.
But, not only by the minds behind the curtains a show is made, since one particular attribute that’s been causing great expectation in internet users everywhere is the cast.
First, a mention of honor needs to be made to the one and only Reneé Rapp reviving her role as Regina George. She’s been building up an outstanding career since 2018, when she won the Jimmy Awards (the informal and cooler name to the National High School Musical Theatre Awards), and, right after that, stepped up to substitute the Emmy nominee Taylor Louderman as Regina for part of the season.
From that, she starred two seasons of The Sex Life Of College Girls, hit show by HBO+ that provided the artist her first Tony nomination, released her first EP Everything to Everyone in 2022, followed by her first studio album Snow Angel, the biggest female debut from 2023.
Rapp started the North American leg of her first solo tour on the 15th of September, she’s one of the greatest ascending stars from the generation right now, and that’s why her participation in the movie is promising.
Besides our favorite antagonist from the 2000’s, the rest of the casting also has a few already known public figures by the audience. Names such as Auli’i Cravalho (Moana and Crush), Christopher Briney (The Summer I Turned Pretty), Babe Wood (Love, Victor), Jenna Fischer (The Office) and Angourie Rice (Spider Man and Senior Year) are confirmed to re-give life respectively to Janis, Aaron Samuels, Gretchen, Ms. Haron and Cady Heron. A little fan service is also included for the ones that have a special place in their hearts for the original cast, considering that Ashley Park (Emily in Paris) who played Gretchen at the August Wilson Theatre, is confirmed for a cameo.
In terms of musical numbers, the original Broadway cast recording brought us some of the best works from modern theater productions. Songs like “It Roars“, “Meet the Plastics“, “Revenge Party” and “World Burn” were perfectly written to encapsulate and express big moments of the plot. Also, everyone gets a solo song to develop the character backstory, which makes your connection with them much deeper, and Fey has already made a statement saying that the music is going to be adapted to the screen in a more pop way, so it will be possible to dive more into their feelings.
On top of everything, choreography is going to be coordinated by Kyle Hanagami, who already worked on projects with Ariana Grande, BLACKPINK, TWICE, Now United, and more, besides being released on Paramount+, platform that already have an exceptional reputation in musical formats after Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies.
Summing up, even though any participation of the original cast is confirmed until now, it is clear that Mean Girls are coming to make history one more time, and we can’t wait for it!
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The article above was edited by Isadora Restiffe.
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