'Grease' spin-off now called 'Rise Of The Pink Ladies' and could use classic movie songs

The Grease spin-off series planned for HBO Max is now heading to the new Paramount streaming service instead.

Now entitled The Rise of the Pink Ladies, the series will explore the arrival of the group at Rydell High and the moral outrage their bad attitudes sparked.

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Variety reports that Paramount is hoping to make a deal to use some of the 1978 film’s iconic music, ripped from the stage musical released a few years earlier, as well as freshly penned songs.

However, the estates of original composers Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey expressed objections to this idea when the HBO Max project was first announced.

The project has now migrated from that streamer, owned by Warner Bros, and will now debut on the new Paramount Plus service.

It also seems the project has tightened its focus somewhat, having previously been called Rydell High and announced as an attempt to “build out the world of this show”.

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Rise of the Pink Ladies had already been a handed a direct-to-series order and is separate to the movie prequel Summer Lovin’, which is also being developed at Paramount.

That movie has Hearts Beat Loud filmmaker Brett Haley in the director’s chair and will tell the story of the romantic summer prior to the events of the movie, as recounted by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the song Summer Nights.

Grease is one of the most beloved movie musicals of all time and, following its original release, it was the highest-grossing film in the history of the genre with a worldwide haul of $366m (£282m).

Both leads were nominated for Golden Globes for their performances and the song Hopelessly Devoted for You, performed by Newton-John, was in the frame for the Best Original Song Oscar.

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Four years later, the critically panned Grease 2 was released with Michelle Pfeiffer and Maxwell Caulfield in the lead roles.

Newton-John herself was among those to express their distaste for the sequel, with musical creator Jacobs also disowning the movie.

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