Tina Fey Will Bring Broadway’s ‘Mean Girls’ Musical to the Big Screen
The “Mean Girls” saga is coming full circle — back to the big screen, that is. Tina Fey has announced that the Broadway musical version of the film, which made its bow in DC back in October 2017 before hitting New York in April 2018, will now be adapted as a new film. Nominated for 12 Tony Awards in 2018, the musical’s book is written by Fey, who starred in the 2004 movie as Ms. Sharon Norbury, everyone’s favorite, self-deprecating high-school calculus teacher.
“I’m very excited to bring ‘Mean Girls’ back to the big screen,” Tina Fey said in a statement shared with Variety. “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.”
The stage version is produced by Lorne Michaels, Stuart Thompson, Sonia Friedman, and Paramount Pictures, with music by Jeff Richmond and lyrics by Nell Benjamin — all of whom will re-team with Fey on the movie. Comedian Fey also wrote the screenplay for the original movie, still an endlessly quotable pop-culture sensation more than 15 years later. It grossed $129 million for distributor Paramount during the summer of the film’s release.
This news arrived on the heels of the announcement that the “Mean Girls” stage version will head across the pond to London’s West End next year. “It has been a joy to work on ‘Mean Girls’ and to watch it go from film, to musical, and now to musical film,” Lorne Michaels said. “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.”
“Mean Girls” isn’t the only Broadway musical anticipating a big-screen adaptation. Director Steven Spielberg’s new version of “West Side Story,” starring Ansel Elgort, is slated for a December 18, 2020 release. There’s also Jon M. Chu’s “In the Heights,” based on the beloved musical by Quiara Alegría Hudes and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of “The Prom” will also hit Netflix some time this year. The most recent stage musical to hit the big screen, Universal Pictures’ $100-million “Cats,” famously flopped with critics and audiences back in December.
