Tina Fey Is Adapting Her ‘Mean Girls’ Broadway Musical Back Into A Movie
Mean Girlsis going to prove that it’s the apex predator of not just the stage, but the big screen as well.Tina Feywill be adapting her Tony-nominatedMean GirlsBroadway musical into a feature film, bringing the story back to the big screen nearly two decades after the 2004 high school comedy first hit theaters and inspired the stage adaptation.Varietyreports that Tina Fey is bringing theMean Girlsmusical back to the big screen. Fey and the producers of the hit Broadway show announced that theMean Girlsmovie is being adapted into a feature film for Paramount Pictures, becoming one of the few movies to get adapted into a musical, before being adapted into a movie again.
“I’m very excited to bringMean Girlsback to the big screen,” Fey, who wrote and starred in the film before writing the book for the stage musical, said in a statement. “It’s been incredibly gratifying to see how much the movie and the musical have meant to audiences. I’ve spent sixteen years with these characters now. They are my Marvel Universe and I love them dearly.”
Mean Girlsfirst came to life as a 2004 high school comedy starring Lindsey Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, Amy Poehler, and Tim Meadows. The film quickly became a box office hit and a cult sensation, with a razor-sharp script by Fey that still gets quoted today. Fey collaborated with composer Jeff Richmond and lyricist Nell Benjamin to create theMean Girlsmusical, which opened on Broadway in 2018 and went on to earn 12 Tony nominations.SNLcreator Lorne Michaels producedMean Girlsfor the stage alongside Stuart Thompson, Sonia Friedman, and Paramount Pictures, and will be involved with its feature adaptation as well. “It has been a joy to work onMean Girlsand to watch it go from film, to musical, and now to musical film,” Michaels added. “I am very proud that Tina’s story and characters continue to resonate with new generations. We are all excited to continue to work with Sonia Friedman and her team as we prepare for London.”
It does seem odd thatMean Girlshas become a movie, a musical, and a movie again in the span of 20 years, but it’s not the only movie to do so.Films likeThe Producers, Hairspray, Nine,andLittle Shop of Horrorsfollowed that same route, though often to mixed results. But with Fey on board for this movie adaptation of a musical, which was an adaptation of her movie, theMean Girlsmovie musical could end up being prettyfetch.
