''Mean Girls'' is an upcoming American

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

comedy film directed by Arturo Perez Jr. and Samantha Jayne in their feature film directorial debut, from a screenplay by Tina Fey. It is based on the Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on Mark Waters's 2004 comedy film, both written by Fey. It features an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

including Angourie Rice, Aulii Cravalho,

Reneé Rapp Reneé J. Rapp is an American actress and singer. After she won the 2018 Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actress, she took over the role of Regina George in the Broadway musical ''Mean Girls''. She then went on to play Leighton in the H ...

, Jaquel Spivey,

Avantika Vandanapu Avantika Vandanapu (born 25 January 2005), sometimes credited simply as Avantika, is an American actress and dancer. She has worked in several Indian films, predominantly in Telugu language, in addition to commercials. In 2021, she starred in t ...

Bebe Wood Bebe Wood is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Shania in the NBC television series '' The New Normal'', as Shannon on the ABC television series ''The Real O'Neals'', and as Lake Meriwether on the Hulu Original series ...

, Christopher Briney, Jenna Fischer, and Busy Philipps. Fey and Tim Meadows reprise their roles from the original film. Paramount Players announced the film's development in January 2020, with Tina Fey returning to write the screenplay. Fey also serves as a producer alongside Lorne Michaels, who produced the 2004 film. Casting began in December 2022. Filming took place in New Jersey between March and April 2023. Composer Jeff Richmond and lyricist

Nell Benjamin Nell Benjamin is a lyricist, writer, and composer noted for her work in musical theatre. With her husband and frequent collaborator Laurence O'Keefe, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for writing ''Legally Blonde'' in 2011. And in 2007, she was ...

returned to rework their songs from the Broadway musical, while Richmond also composed the film's score. ''Mean Girls'' is scheduled to be released in the United States by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

on January 12, 2024.

Cast

* Angourie Rice as Cady Heron *

Regina George Regina George Grause (born 17 February 1991 in Chicago, United States) is an American-born Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. She represented Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Olympics and was the silver medallist at the African Ch ...

* Auliʻi Cravalho as Janis 'Imi'ike * Jaquel Spivey as Damian Hubbard *

as Gretchen Wieners *

as Karen Shetty * Christopher Briney as Aaron Samuels * Tina Fey as Ms. Norbury * Tim Meadows as Principal Duvall * Jenna Fischer as Ms. Heron * Busy Philipps as Mrs. George * Mahi Alam as Kevin Ganatra * Connor Ratliff as Mr. Rapp * Jon Hamm as Coach Carr *

Ashley Park Ashley Park is a private residential neighbourhood at Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. Its central feature was a grandiose English country house, at times enjoying associated medieval manorial rights, which stood on the site, with alterations, betw ...

as Madame Park

Production

Development

In January 2020, Tina Fey announced that a film adaptation of the musical '' Mean Girls'' was in development. The musical itself is an adaptation of the 2004 film of the same name. In May 2021, Fey suggested to '' Variety'' that the cast members from the musical would likely not reprise their roles. In September 2021, Arturo Perez Jr. and Samantha Jayne signed on to direct. The film was produced by Paramount Players, Broadway Video and Little Stranger.

Casting

In December 2022, Angourie Rice,

, Auliʻi Cravalho, and Jaquel Spivey were cast in the roles of Cady, Regina, Janis, and Damian, respectively; Rapp previously portrayed Regina in the Broadway musical from 2019 until its closure in 2020. In February 2023, it was reported that the roles of Aaron,

Gretchen Gretchen (, ; literal translation: "Little Grete" or "Little Greta") is a female given name of German origin that is mainly prevalent in the United States. Its popularity increased because a major character in Goethe's ''Faust'' (1808) has th ...

, and Karen would be played by Christopher Briney,

, and

, respectively. Fey and Tim Meadows would reprise their roles from the film as Ms. Norbury and Principal Duvall, respectively. In February 2023, Jenna Fischer joined the cast as Ms. Heron, Cady Heron's mom. Busy Philipps portrays Mrs. George, Regina's mother. Additionally,

, who played Gretchen in the original Broadway production, is set to make a cameo in the film. Mahi Alam, Connor Ratliff, and Jon Hamm joined in March as Kevin Gnapoor, Mr. Rapp, and Coach Carr, respectively.

Filming

Principal photography took place in Middletown Township, New Jersey from March to April 2023.

Music

Jeff Richmond returned to compose the score for the film adaptation, with lyrics by

Release

''Mean Girls'' is set to be released in theaters on January 12, 2024 by

after previously being set for an exclusive streaming release on Paramount+.

References

External links

* * {{Lorne Michaels Upcoming films 2024 films 2024 directorial debut films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films American teen musical films Films based on musicals based on films Films produced by Lorne Michaels Films shot in New Jersey Films with screenplays by Tina Fey Mean Girls (franchise) Paramount Pictures films Paramount Players films Upcoming directorial debut films Upcoming English-language films