You may or may not have noticed there’s a new Mean Girls movie on the way, hitting theaters this weekend. Whether you’ve caught the trailer of not, you’re probably asking yourself, “Wait, another Mean Girls movie? Is it a sequel? It looks like a remake,” or something of that nature. It’s understandable that there might be some confusion. After all, despite the tagline for the new movie being “Not your mother’s Mean Girls,” the original 2004 Mean Girls is still beloved by multiple generations. It’s not even a cult classic – it’s just a classic classic. So why make a new one? Well, there’s a fun twist.
The reality is that Mean Girls 2024 isn’t a remake or a sequel of the original Mean Girls. Instead, it’s the movie version of the Mean Girls Broadway musical based on the movie. So it’s Mean Girls, but Mean Girls as a musical.
The original musical opened on Broadway in April 2018. Tina Fey, who, of course, wrote the original movie, also wrote the book for the musical, with music by her husband, Jeff Richmond, and lyrics from Nell Benjamin. It, just like the original movie, was a hit: it was nominated for a whopping 12 Tony Awards in its first year. Tina Fey isn’t the only personnel connection the movie musical has to the original, though. Fey is returning to reprise her role as teacher Ms. Norbury, but another familiar face is returning in the form of Tim Meadows, who is reprising his role of Principal Duvall.
A few of the Broadway musical actors will be involved in the movie version, as well. Reneé Rapp, who portrayed Regina George from 2019 until the musical closing in 2020, will be playing the movie version of Regina. Ashley Park, who played Gretchen in the musical, will also cameo in the movie.
As the Broadway musical is two and a half hours long, though, some changes had to be made for the Mean Girls movie musical. The main change is that a few of the musical numbers have been cut and others shortened to fit into a theatrical run time. It will also have a more modern setting than the 2000s-era original movie. Where that just had a Burn Book – as does the musical – it also incorporates updated elements like social media and modern smartphones. Even with the musical twists and slight changes, it’s still the Mean Girls you know and love.
Get in, loser. We’re going to the movies.
