What's that? A prequel to GREASE titled SUMMER LOVING is in the works at Paramount? I might not be the target audience for the 1978 musical starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, but please, tell me more, tell me more.
Well friend, the Paramount Players are at it again after putting the GREASE prequel into development, which has John August, the scribe behind such films as Tim Burton's BIG FISH and CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY set to pen the script. Meanwhile, Temple Hill, the studio who brought projects like LOVE, SIMON, UNCLE DREW, FIRST MAN, THE HATE U GIVE and more to screen will produce alongside Picturestart, the company headed up by Lionsgate executive-turned-producer Erik Feig.
In the 1978 original film, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John star as two high school teens from opposite sides of the tracks – Travolta's Danny Zuko a grease-combed gearhead, Newton-John's Sandy Olsson a sugary sweet, poodle skirt-sporting sweetheart from Australia. After much song and dance, Danny and Sandy become lovers whose story would go on to inspire theater kids for generations to come.
However, in the early part of the movie, in a he said/she manner, Zuko and Olsson both recount to their friends a summer fling they had via the song Summer Nights. Zuko’s is more graphic while Olsson’s is much innocent and wistful. (via THR)
The upcoming prequel is said to explore the details of that fateful meeting.
You can ask just about any theater enthusiast and they'll tell you that GREASE is still a force to be reckoned with in their line of work. Drama clubs have been putting on their own reditions of GREASE for decades, as the musical continues to remain a part of pop culture the world over. Growing up, I can't tell you how many times my first girlfriend performed the songs of both GREASE and THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, much to my chagrin. She and her friends would flit about the room, executing doo-wop moves like they were going out of style, singing the words to every tune in an enthusiastic and shrill manner. It was a trying time, my friends. In fact, I didn't get over my trauma until 2012, when I'd finally sat down to watch THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW in its entirety … and loved every second of it. I don't know that I can say the same for GREASE, though. Nevertheless, this is bound to get lots of people excited and I think that's the haps, Daddio. Okay, I'm going to go be old somewhere else now. Cheers!