Films

Leah McKendrick Writing “Grease” Prequel “Summer Lovin’” for Paramount

McKendrick: Dustin Walker Photography

Leah McKendrick will tell us more, tell us more with her next project. The actress and filmmaker penned “Summer Lovin’,” Paramount’s prequel to the perennial musical classic “Grease.” The film will tell the story of how Sandy and Danny met, and what really happened during those “Summer Nights.”

“The studio is extremely high on this property,” according to Deadline, “and sources say there is a sense depending on how this film goes of the possibility of a franchise down the road.”

Brett Haley (“Hearts Beat Loud”) is directing “Summer Lovin’,” and Temple Hill and Picturestart are producing.

Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta starred as the couple at the center of 1978’s “Grease.” She’s the preppy new girl in town, he’s the bad boy, and so they naturally fall in love. “You’re the One That I Want,” “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” “Greased Lightnin’,” and “We Go Together” are among the film’s other iconic songs.

The story originated as a 1971 stage musical. Michelle Pfeiffer starred in a 1982 film sequel and Fox broadcast a live production starring Vanessa Hudgens and Julianne Hough in 2016.

HBO Max has given a straight-to-series order to “Grease: Rydell High,” a musical spinoff featuring new and familiar characters. Annabel Oakes (“Transparent”) is writing the pilot.

McKendrick previously wrote features “M.F.A.” and “Deviant Love,” and also appeared in the former. She created and starred in the web series “Destroy the Alpha Gammas.” She wrote, directed, and starred in the shorts “Pamela & Ivy” and “Miyagis.” McKendrick’s other on-screen credits include “Bad Moms” and “Shut Eye.”

“For me, any story that is going to have a female character that is doing un-ladylike things, I’m going to support,” McKendrick has said, “I think, whether you agree with her or not, I would like to see a wider range of female characters in cinema behaving badly, doing bad things, doing gross things, doing beautiful things, doing all human things.”


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