While there appears to be a cinematic adaptation to the musical based on the 2004 smash teen comedy hit “Mean Girls” in the works, the actors who played “The Plastics” — Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried and Lacey Chabert — will not be involved in the film.
According to Page Six, the four starlets have turned down Paramount’s offers to reprise their roles, so they will not be involved in the film’s sequel for the time being. The outlet detailed what went wrong with negotiations.
“Paramount Pictures doesn’t want to pay the girls what they are worth,” a source told Page Six. “All four girls were willing to come back, but Paramount has not been respectful of what they are worth.”
The film reportedly already has Tina Fey, who played Ms. Norbury and is also credited as the screenwriter for both the movie and musical, signed on to reprise the role as well as write and produce the upcoming movie musical. Page Six reported that the four starlets were offered a fraction of what they are paying Fey.
That means everyone’s favorite fictional clique of popular girls from the 2000s will not be involved in the cinematic adaptation of “Mean Girls: The Musical” — for now, at least. However, that could change if Paramount would be willing to increase their offers.
Why they need the original Plastics back
It’s hard to see how Paramount would be able to pull off a musical for the teenage comedy without the four Plastics involved in some capacity, knowing the laughs that they created together as a quartet. Of course, in the 2020s, the four of them can’t pass off as teenagers like they did back in 2004. But it was the chemistry between the four of them that made the movie both hilarious and relatable to audiences back then.
If they were to have a role in the upcoming film, they’d likely have to play different roles than the ones they played almost 20 years ago. However, Paramount has to keep in mind that seeing them back is what will draw fans of the original movie to watch the musical movie.
But why would fans want to watch a musical adaptation of “Mean Girls” featuring those four actresses, factoring that they’re not nearly as young now, and hence, won’t be able to play the same characters again?
It’s simple. We live in an era where nostalgia is milked to its very last drop. Why? Because, more often than not, it sells. It gets people to tune in because they’re re-watching characters that they grew up with. It’s like being reacquainted with an old friend after many years. Even if they won’t play the same roles that they did, audiences want to see Lohan, McAdams, Seyfried and Chabert back for the cinematic musical regardless of what roles they would play.
Paramount may very well go forward with the “Mean Girls: The Musical” movie without the original Plastics, but they might shoot themselves in the foot if they do.
Even though they won’t be involved for the time being, a lot of the film’s roles have been cast, including Angourie Rice as Cady Heron, Reneé Rapp as Regina George, Bebe Wood as Gretchen Wieners, Avantika Vandanapu as Karen Smith, Christopher Briney as Aaron Samuels, Auli’i Cravalho as Janice Ian, and Jaquel Spivey as Damian Lee.
On Feb. 28, Entertainment Weekly reported that Jenna Fischer, best known for playing Pam Beesley on “The Office,” has been cast as Cady’s mom.
Page Six confirmed that the movie will start production on March 6.