Posted in: CBS, streaming, TV | Tagged: Grease, grease: rise of the pink ladies, paramount, pink ladies, preview, Rizzo

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies Prequel Series Gets Paramount+ Order

While 1978's Grease remains a cinematic classic as those can claim as the original High School Musical, it's largely thanks to stars original stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John as star-crossed lovers from different worlds.. From the maligned 1982 sequel starring Michelle Pfeiffer to the 2016 TV movie with Julianne Hough in Grease Live!, the franchise still retains quite a cult following and now Paramount+ is looking to take advantage of that with a prequel series focusing on the female clique called Rise of the Pink Ladies. The role of leader Rizzo was originally played by Stockard Channing in the Randal Kleiser-directed film and adapted to the screen by Bronte Woodard, based on the musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey.

A 10-episode order of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies comes courtesy of Paramount Television Studios President Nicole Clemens. The story will take place four years before the original musical. According to Deadline Hollywood, the story describes the series, "Before rock 'n' roll ruled, before the T-Birds were the coolest in the school, four fed-up, outcast girls dare to have fun on their own terms, sparking a moral panic that will change Rydell High forever."

While the four original Pink Ladies were Rizzo, Frenchy, Marty, and Jan, the series will feature new characters. Before landing at Paramount+, development was set for HBO Max. Prior to Disney's recent live-action remakes of beloved animated films like The Lion King and Beauty & the Beast, Grease set the record for the highest-grossing live-action musical with a combined gross of $396 million globally at the box office. The film's soundtrack sold more than 8 million copies. The 1978 film also helped solidify Travolta as a multi-faceted acting tour-de-force as well as help springboard Newton-John's music career. It's hardly the first nor the last IP Paramount+ is looking to tap those longing for nostalgia. With the success of the Star Trek franchise they reinvigorated, the ViacomCBS streamer is also developing offshoots of Flashdance, Love Story, and The Italian Job.

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