Grease (franchise)

Grease
Official franchise logo, as released in 1978.
Created by	Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey
Original work	Grease
Owners	Paramount Pictures (Paramount Global)
Years	1971–present
Films and television
Film(s)	Grease (1978) Grease 2 (1982) Premaloka (1987)
Television series	Grease: You're the One That I Want! (2007) Grease Is the Word (2007) Grease: The School Musical (2023) Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (2023)
Theatrical presentations
Musical(s)	Grease (1971) Cool Rider (2014)
Games
Video game(s)	Grease (2010) Grease Dance (2011)

The Grease franchise consists of American films and television productions, based on the 1971 musical. The stage production was first adapted for film with Grease (1978), followed by Grease 2 (1982). A prequel titled Summer Lovin' entered development beginning in 2019.

The franchise centers around the students of Rydell High, with each individual entry depicting the love story of a couple at opposite ends of the popularity spectrum: one, a popular and unruly student while the other is a shy immigrant and new student who is well behaved. The pair ultimately help each other step out of their comfort zone, balance each other out, and realize their ideal selves. The musical explores the themes of classic rock and roll overcoming differences (including opposing gangs), as the students experience high school and make memories together.

Revered as a cult classic,^[1] the original film was met with critical and financial success, and quickly became highest-grossing musical film ever (circa 1978),^[2] while its soundtrack album ended 1978 as the second-best-selling album of the year in the United States.^[3] The film earned an Oscar nomination at the 51st Academy Awards. In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".^[4] The sequel however, did not fare well at the box office nor with critics and was nominated for a Stinkers Bad Movie Awards for Worst Picture.^[5] Later on, it was awarded No. 13 in the 100 worst films of the 20th century, in Stinkers' "100 Years, 100 Stinkers" list.^[6][7]

The film series expanded into a franchise with the release of a Broadway musical adaptation, various reality television programs centered around the Broadway production, as well as releases in various other mediums. It will continue with the release of a streaming television series titled Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, an exclusive on Paramount+. Additionally, a prequel film titled Summer Lovin', which will depict the summer prior to the events of Grease, is in early development.

Origin

Further information: Grease (musical)

Grease is a 1971 stage musical, originally written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, that originated from the Chicago theater scene. It moved to Off-Broadway and then to Broadway in 1972, where it ran until 1980. The original musical was set in urban Chicago and was based on Jacobs's own teenage years, with several of the characters having identifiably Polish-American and Italian-American ethnicities. The Chicago production was more profane and had less musical elements, while the writers partially sanitized the production for Broadway audiences.^[8] The musical functioned as an ensemble comedy, while the subplots involving supporting characters were given greater development. The stage production ends with a definitive decision in Danny's favor, as he reverts to his old ways while Sandy transforms into the wild Pink Lady to fit in.^[9]

Film

Film	U.S. release date	Director	Screenwriter	Story by	Producer(s)	Status
Grease	June 16, 1978 (1978-06-16)	Randal Kleiser	Bronté Woodard	Allan Carr	Allan Carr & Robert Stigwood	Released
Grease 2	June 11, 1982 (1982-06-11)	Patricia Birch	Ken Finkleman
Summer Lovin'	TBA	Brett Haley	John August & Leah McKendrick	John August	Erik Feig	In development

Grease (1978)

Main article: Grease (film)

In fall 1958 following their summer romance, wholesome Australian immigrant Sandra "Sandy" Olsson and popular greaser Daniel "Danny" Zuko find themselves classmates, when Sandy enrolls at Rydell High School (in a generic setting based on suburban Philadelphia)^[10] instead of moving back home. At Rydell, Danny has long been the de facto leader of the T-Birds, a crew of fellow greasers; the T-Birds' female counterparts are the Pink Ladies, a tight-knit clique helmed by queen bee Betty Rizzo. As Danny attempts to maintain his reputation in the T-Birds as the coolest guy at the school among his peers, he struggles with keeping his relationship with Sandy alive. Sandy stands by her morals and education, being torn between the upright preppies of Rydell High (typified by cheerleader Patty Simcox) and the cruder Pink Ladies, to whose influences she eventually succumbs to keep Danny. Along the way the couple and their friends, experience adolescence among 1950s rock and roll culture: sex, substance abuse, and music.^[11]

Re-releases

Grease was re-released in May 1979 in 1,248 theatres in the United States and Canada, Paramount's biggest ever saturation release at the time, and grossed $4.5 million in its opening weekend.^[12][13] During the reissue, it overtook The Godfather and became Paramount Pictures' highest-grossing film of all-time.^[14] It was re-released in March 1998 for its 20th anniversary where it grossed a further $28 million in North America.^[15] An additional re-release in 2018, for its 40th anniversary grossed $1 million.^[15]

Grease 2 (1982)

Main article: Grease 2

In 1961, Stephanie Zinone has succeeded to the leadership of the Pink Ladies following Rizzo's graduation in the first film. Tired of the recurring drama, Stephanie breaks up with her boyfriend Johnny Nogerelli. She receives the admiration of Michael Carrington, a mild-mannered bookish new exchange student and Sandy's cousin. Michael seeks to overcome his nerdy ways while earning her affections by learning to ride a motorcycle, and taking on a secret identity that his peers call the "Cool Rider". Johnny grows jealous of Michelle's romantic pursuits, and as the leader of the T-Birds attempts to use his popularity to win her back.^[16]

Summer Lovin' (TBA)

In April 2019, Paramount Pictures announced a prequel movie titled Summer Lovin' was in development, with John August serving as screenwriter. The project will be a joint-venture production from Paramount Pictures, Paramount Players, Temple Hill Productions, and Picturestart. Receiving its title from the song, the plot will center around the summer in which Danny and Sandy met and fell in love.^[17] By July 2020, Brett Haley was hired to serve as director with the most recent draft of the script being written by Leah McKendrick.^[18]

Television

Reality television

Main articles: Grease: You're the One That I Want! and Grease Is the Word

Grease: You're the One That I Want! (2007)

A reality television series of a talent competition of singing and dancing. From the producers of Dancing With the Stars, the series was patterned after a format designed and created by Andrew Lloyd Webber for the BBC series How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?. Hosted by Billy Bush and Denise van Outen, the series featured celebrity judges Kathleen Marshall and David Ian alongside co-creator Jim Jacobs, who helped narrow the search for the Broadway leads among the contestants.^[19]

The program generated so much interest in the upcoming Broadway revival that, ticket sales had topped $9 million. Despite this the series was declared a "ratings loser".^[20]

Grease Is the Word (2007)

The United Kingdom version of NBC's Grease: You're the One That I Want!, which aired in 2007. The series was a production of Syco TV for ITV, with Simon Cowell serving as producer. The winning couple, Susan McFadden & Danny Bayne, became the stars of the West End revival production of the stage musical at the Piccadilly Theatre.

The judges were David Ian, David Gest, Sinitta, and Brian Friedman. The series was hosted by Zoe Ball. The after-show titled Greased Lightnin' shared unseen auditions, behind-the-scenes videos, and interviews; was hosted by Holly Willoughby and aired on ITV2.^[21]

Television production

Main article: Grease Live!

Grease Live! is a television special that was originally broadcast by Fox on January 31, 2016. It was a live, televised remake of the 1978 film Grease, executive produced by Marc Platt, directed by Thomas Kail, and starring Julianne Hough, Aaron Tveit, Vanessa Hudgens and Carlos PenaVega. Patterned on similar live television musicals that had recently been produced by NBC, the production incorporated elements and songs from both the original stage musical and the 1978 film version of Grease, as well as additional songs and a few elements (such as changing Sandy's last name to Young to reflect Hough's own background) that were not present in either. In an effort to emulate the "energy" of a theatrical setting, live audiences were incorporated into the production's stagings. Grease Live! was broadcast from Warner Bros. Studios, using two soundstages and the studio's outdoor backlot—the usage of the latter was notably affected by rain in the Los Angeles area on the day of the broadcast.^[22][23]

Series

Main article: Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies

In September 2019, a musical television series was announced to be in development titled, Grease: Rydell High. The show was ordered straight-to-series, and was to release exclusively on HBO Max. The project was a joint-production between Paramount Television, Picturestart, and Temple Hill Entertainment. Erik Feig served as producer for the show. The series was a prequel to the original film with returning and new characters, as well as new and old songs.^[24] By April 2020, Annabel Oakes was hired as writer and executive producer for the series.^[25] In May of the same year, the project was retitled as Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies.^[26] In October 2020, it was announced that the series would be moving to Paramount+.^[27] Paramount+ released the ten episodes of the series over the course of spring 2023 before abruptly removing the series from public view that June.^[28]

Main cast

Character	Films			Television
	Grease	Grease 2	Summer Lovin'	Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies
	1978	1982	TBA	2023
Principal McGee	Eve Arden		Jackie Hoffman
Fran "Frenchy" Facciano	Didi Conn			Madison Elizabeth Lagares
Betty Rizzo	Stockard Channing			Emma Shannon
Danny Zuko	John Travolta		TBA
Sandra "Sandy" Olsson	Olivia Newton-John
Coach Vince Calhoun	Sid Caesar
Secretary Blanche Hodel	Dody Goodman
Eugene Felsnick	Eddie Deezen
Leo Balmudo (Craterface)	Dennis C. Stewart
Mr. Rudie Spears	Dick Patterson
Kenickie Murdoch	Jeff Conaway
Doody	Barry Pearl
Sonny Lantieri	Michael Tucci
Putzie	Kelly Ward
Marty Maraschino	Dinah Manoff
Jan	Jamie Donnelly
Michael Carrington		Maxwell Caulfield
Stephanie Zinone		Michelle Pfeiffer
Johnny Nogerelli		Adrian Zmed
Goose McKenzie		Christopher McDonald
Louis DiMucci		Peter Frechette
Davey Jaworski		Leif Green
Johnny Nogerelli		Adrian Zmed
Sharon Cooper		Maureen Teefy
Paulette Rebchuck		Lorna Luft
Rhonda Ritter		Alison Price
Dolores Rebchuck		Pamela Segall
Jane Facciano				Marisa Davila
Olivia Valdovinos				Cheyenne Isabel Wells
Cynthia Zdunowski				Ari Notartomaso
Nancy Nakagawa				Tricia Fukuhara
Hazel Robertson				Shanel Bailey
Susan St. Clair				Madison Thompson
Richie Valdovinos				Johnathan Nieves
Buddy Aldridge				Jason Schmidt
Gil Rizzo				Nicholas McDonough

Additional crew and production details

Title	Crew/Detail
	Composer	Cinematographer	Editor(s)	Production companies	Distributing company	Running time
Grease	Michael Gibson	Bill Butler	John F. Burnett & Robert Pergament	Polydor Records, Paramount Pictures, Allan Car Production, Robert Stigwood Organization	Paramount Pictures	1 hr 50 mins
Grease 2	Louis St. Louis	Frank Stanley	John F. Burnett	Polydor Records, Paramount Pictures		1 hr 54 mins
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies	TBA	TBA	TBA	Paramount Television Studios, Disappearing Ink, Temple Hill Productions, Picturestart Productions	Paramount+	TBA
Summer Lovin'	TBA	TBA	TBA	Paramount Pictures, Temple Hill Productions, Picturestart Productions	Paramount Players	TBA

Reception

For more details on the reception of each film, see the "Reception" section on each film's article.

Box office and financial performance

Film	Box office gross			Box office ranking		Home video sales gross	Worldwide Total income	Budget	Ref.
	North America	Other territories	Worldwide	All time North America	All time worldwide	North America
Grease	$159,978,870	$206,200,000	$366,178,870	223	290	$26,247,660	$392,426,530	$6,000,000	[29]
Grease 2	$14,297,083	$874,393	$15,171,476	4,283	5,735	—	$15,171,476	$11,200,000	[30][31][32]
Total	$174,275,953	$207,074,939	$381,350,346	x̄ #2,253	x̄ #3,012.5	$26,247,660	$407,598,006	$11,206,000

Critical and public response

Title	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic
Grease	75% (73 reviews)[33]	70/100 (15 reviews)[34]
Grease 2	36% (36 reviews)[35]	52/100 (11 reviews)[36]
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies	TBD	TBD
Summer Lovin'	TBD	TBD

Accolades

Award	Grease	Grease 2	Summer Lovin'
Best Original Song	Nominated	{{{1}}}	{{{1}}}

Broadways

Following the film's success, stage adaptations were revived. Despite this, the new productions were adjusted to align closer with the film release.

• Grease: Due to the popularity of the film adaptation and the involvement of film producer Robert Stigwood in the West End revival in 1993, the subsequent revivals adopted several of the changes made in the film. One notable change includes renaming the Burger Palace Boys to their film name of T-Birds. However, in the revival the role of Sandy Dumbrowski maintains the original character name from the original stage production. John Farrar, who wrote two of the new songs is credited alongside Jacobs and Casey for the music in these productions. The revival was met with mixed critical reception.^[37][38]
• Cool Rider: Grease 2 was later adapted into a musical, albeit with an alternate title, with the script re-written and modified for the stage on Broadway and the West End.^[39] The Broadway production received positive critic reviews, favorably calling it superior over the film.^[40]

In other media

Video games

• Grease: The Official Video Game
• Grease Dance

See also

• Sha Na Na, syndicated television variety show first broadcast from 1977 to 1981

References

1. Garrigues, Manon (April 10, 2019). ""What makes Grease a cult film?"". Vogue Paris. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
2. Hofler, Robert (2010). Party Animals: A Hollywood Tale of Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'N' Roll Starring the Fabulous Allan Carr. ReadHowYouWant.com. p. 145. ISBN 9781459600072. Despite the fact that Grease was well on its way to becoming the highest-grossing movie musical in the world, and eventually grossed over $341 million...
3. "Year End Charts—Year-end Albums—The Billboard 200". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
4. Alter, Rebecca (December 14, 2020). "Shrek Has Been Inducted Into the National Film Registry". Vulture. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
5. "1982 5th Hastings Bad Cinema Society Stinkers Awards". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 15, 2007. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
6. "The 100 Worst Films of the 20th Century". The Stinkers. Archived from the original on June 4, 2002. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
7. "The Top Ten [sic] Worst Films of All-Time". The Stinkers. Archived from the original on June 7, 2002. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
8. "Bring back our own, original R-rated 'Grease'". January 8, 2009. Archived from the original on November 17, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
9. Newmark, Judith (August 1, 2014). "'Grease' gets the splashy Muny treatment | Theater reviews". Stltoday.com. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
10. Nick Vadala (October 17, 2019). "'Grease's' Rydell High, inspired by Radnor High School, is getting an HBO Max series". Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
11. Variety staff (December 31, 1977). "Grease". Variety. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
12. "Par's Biggest-Ever Saturation Due For 'Grease' Re-Release". Daily Variety. May 9, 1979. p. 4.
13. "'Grease,' $4,500,000, In 1,248 Situations For Re-Re-Runs". Variety. May 23, 1979. p. 27.
14. "'Ark' Tops 'Grease'". Variety. October 7, 1981. p. 6.
15. Grease at Box Office Mojo
16. Variety staff (December 31, 1981). "Grease 2". Variety. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
17. Kit, Borys (April 9, 2019). "'Grease' Prequel 'Summer Loving' in the Works With John August Writing (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
18. Kroll, Justin (July 20, 2020). "'Grease' Prequel Gains Momentum At Paramount As Brett Haley Comes On As Director". Deadline. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
19. "Grease - NBC.com". NBC.
20. Riedel, Michael (January 17, 2007). ""Won't Give 'Grease' a Chance"". New York Post. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
21. "Zoe, Holly and Sinitta start search for new Sandy and Danny". March 29, 2007. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
22. Kreps, Daniel (January 17, 2015). "Fox Plans 'Grease' Live Musical With Julianne Hough and Vanessa Hudgens". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
23. Hetrick, Adam; Viagas, Robert; Gioia, Michael (May 28, 2015). "Keke Palmer Joins Cast of Fox's Grease: Live!". Playbill.com. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
24. "'Grease' TV Spinoff 'Rydell High' Coming to HBO Max". The Hollywood Reporter. October 15, 2019.
25. "'Grease: Rydell High': Annabel Oakes To Write & EP HBO Max Spinoff Series". Deadline. April 10, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
26. @WarnerMedia (May 27, 2020). "#HBOMax is here! 🥳 Our groundbreaking streaming platform features iconic and beloved programming from across the WarnerMedia portfolio, a roster of new Max Originals, & fan-favorite acquired franchises & films" (Tweet). Retrieved May 31, 2020 – via Twitter.
27. Thorne, Will (October 14, 2020). "'Grease' Spinoff Series Moves From HBO Max to Paramount Plus (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
28. White, Peter (June 23, 2023). "'Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies', 'Star Trek: Prodigy', 'The Game' & 'Queen of the Universe' Canceled At Paramount+ As Streamer Pulls Shows From Service & Takes Content Write-Down". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
29. "Grease". Box Office Mojo.
30. "grease 2 budget – Google Search". www.google.com.
31. "Box Office Mojo > Box Office by Movie". www.boxofficemojo.com. Archived from the original on October 1, 2004. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
32. "Grease 2 (1982) – Financial Information". The Numbers.
33. "Grease (1978)". Rotten Tomatoes. July 7, 1978. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
34. "Grease". Metacritic.
35. "Grease 2 (1982)". Rotten Tomatoes. June 11, 1982. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
36. "Grease 2". Metacritic.
37. Barnes, Clive (August 20, 2007). "TV-AIDED 'GREASE' FRIGHTENING". New York Post. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
38. Brantley, Ben (August 20, 2007). "As Seen on TV! Danny and Sandy 4-Ever and Ever". New York Times. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
39. "Cool Rider! The Stage Adaptation of Cult Sequel Grease 2 to Return to the West End".
40. Ihnut, Gwen (September 28, 2015). ""Cool Rider" was too good for Grease 2". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 25, 2021.

External links

• Official website