Grease is one of the most iconic films ever made. While several of the Rydell High staff characters reprise their roles, the sequel focused on the latest class of graduating seniors, hence most of the principals from Grease did not appear. Normally the studio has the choice, and Olivia said, Well, Ill screen test and if I like the screen test, Ill be in the movie.. We won't post to any of your accounts without asking first. Even though the '70s are a thing of the past, Grease is still the word. Grease was a phenomenal hit with its target teenage audience when it was released in 1977. The reviews likely didnt help. Before Grease, John Travolta had just hit it big with his feature acting role in Saturday Night Fever. Mineo was stabbed to death a year before filming, so the line was changed to refer to Elvis Presley instead. In an interview with New York magazine before Grease 2 was released, he said: Next year, if this film is marketed right, everyone will want to look like Maxwell Caulfield. Jeff Conaway (Kenicie), who went on to play Bobby Wheeler on the sitcom Taxi, actually spent two and a half years playing Danny Zuko on stage. It's 35 years since John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John took this classic story of summer love to Number 1, selling over 1.6 million copies. Back in the seventies, Grease was really pushing the envelope and was considered to be pretty taboo. [46], The film was ranked number 21 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.[61][62]. Before accepting the role, Newton-John requested a screen test for Grease to avoid a career setback. It starred the likes of John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, and Stockard Channing. And it would have been a lot more fun if Stephanie had ridden a motorcycle herself instead of just lusting after men on them. [6][7], A sequel, Grease 2, was released in 1982, starring Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer as a newer class of greasers. The singles Grease and Youre the One That I Want reached the top of the Billboard charts, and Hopelessly Devoted to You (which was Academy Award-nominated) reached number three. A sing-along version of the movie was released to some theaters on July 8, 2010. (Both "Mooning" and "Rock'n'Roll Party Queen", the latter of which was played in the film as background music, were written in the musical for a character named Roger that was written out of the film, replaced by the non-singing Putzie. Other potential Sandys included Ann-Margret, Carrie Fisher (George Lucas was director Randal Kleisers college roommate), and Marie Osmond. [71], In March 2019, it was announced that a prequel, called Summer Lovin', was in development from Paramount Players. The temperatures were so high in the Huntington Park High School gym where they were filming that extras were becomingsick from heat-related illness. It was first released in 1978, and decades later, the movie is still as celebrated as it ever was. The film ruined Maxwell Caulfield's career. Two songs from the musical, "Shakin' at the High School Hop" and "All Choked Up", were left off both the film and the soundtrack. [80] Annabel Oakes is set to write the pilot episode and act as executive producer for the series. Another review I read said that they sound like Meghan Trainor songs which is a very accurate description. 2015-02-22 12:59:12. [4] Its soundtrack album ended 1978 as the second-best-selling album of the year in the United States, only behind the soundtrack of the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever (which also starred Travolta),[5] and the song "Hopelessly Devoted to You" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 51st Academy Awards. With Lyrics?!? Starring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta as Rydell High School sweethearts Sandy Olsson and Danny Zuko, the film. Newton-John, who was born in England and spent most of her childhood in Australia, was unable to perform with a convincing American accent, and thus her character was rewritten to be Australian. After 30 years, GREASE is still the word! I was at the bottom of the barrel, bottom of the drawer maybe, but I decided the only way I could do this was to look at her like she was a real person. Actor Jeff Conaway was dropped by another actor while filming scenes for "Grease Lightning." Sat Sep 15 2018 - 06:00. I didnt think it was going to happen, and then they made it with other people.. See John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John and the Rest of the 'Grease' Cast Then and Now! Im looking for a dream on a mean machine, she sings in Cool Rider, while straddling a ladder in what is probably the films most iconic number. Oh, 50s housewives were jaded and just took pills all the time? Released as a single in May, "Grease," also produced by Gibb and with guitar by Peter Frampton, spent two weeks atop the American singles chart in August, selling a million. With Sandy and Danny out, they focused on new faces primarily, a young actress called Michelle Pfeiffer, playing Pink Lady Stephanie Zinone. The summer of 1958, in which Grease was set, looked a beguiling cocktail of hormonally charged lindy hops, leather pants and all-round frivolity. According to Didi Conn, who played Pink Lady and beauty-school dropout Frenchy in Grease one of a small handful of original cast members to return for Grease 2 producers originally had a different sequel in mind. I laughed, Olivia told Huffington Post. At a carnival, Danny and Sandy each find they have changed for each other: Danny has become a letterman, and Sandy a greaser girl. See 'Magnum P.I.' The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway. This movie is a musical, drama, romance, and comedy. Or anyones, in fact. See production, box office & company info, AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: Paramount Plus Ponies & Paleo. Making the film was a fun but distant memory as she went on to have a successful 40-year career in theatre and voice-overs, including working on Sesame Street. The film is based on the 1971 musical of the same name. [18], Lucie Arnaz auditioned for the part of Rizzo, but a talent client of Carr, Stockard Channing, was cast, several years after her last major film role and debut in The Fortune. There are Grease 2 fan sites, anniversary screenings, Comic Cons and sell-out West End productions based on it. With Sandy's character arc, Grease suggests that Sandy being herself isn't enough. A couple of years ago, film critic Mark Kermode called for it to return to cinema screens. Because of his injuries, he started taking painkillers while on set. The movie version of "Grease" was released exactly 30 years ago today, June 16, 1978. It was a box office. Forty years later, its still the fourth highest grossing musical of all time. In the summer of 1958, local boy Danny Zuko and vacationing Australian Sandy Olsson meet at the beach and fall in love. Grease (1978) came to the BBFC for classification in June 1978. Given the success of the first film, Paramount wanted to do a sequel, but there was apparently no follow through. Newton-John had to be sewn into them before filming, and then the pants had to be ripped off at the end of filming. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. 3) General Safety Precautions Of Compressed gas cylinder: Name of the gas and chemical formula shall be mark on the cylinder. The original musical's cocreator Jim Jacobs, who was not involved in the making of Grease 2, has disowned the film. She looked at the screen and she looked at me and couldnt understand how I could be in two places at once., In the journey from stage to screen, some significant changes were made to Grease. [13] The screen test was done with the drive-in movie scene. Both of them are surprised to meet again on the first day of the new term at Rydell High School, and Sandy is confused by the cool and disinterested way Danny treats her. The opening beach scene was shot at Malibu's Leo Carrillo State Beach, making explicit reference to From Here to Eternity. The letter explains the decision to pass the language in the film at A, particularly a reference to contraception, which is described by the BBFC Examiner as an Americanism not widely understood by most young people who would see the film and therefore not significant enough to raise the film to the AA category. Unlike Sandy, who gets the worlds worst perm, takes up smoking and sews herself into spandex leggings to get the guy, Stephanie has no intention of changing who she is for a man. "[69] The film was shown for two weekends only; additional cities lobbied by fans from the Paramount official website started a week later and screened for one weekend. It might be overstating it to call Grease 2 a feminist classic. Nothing like starting out with arguably the most popular song in the film. He was actually a cast member in the original Broadway stage production of Grease. Depicting. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $8,941,717 in 862 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking at number 2 (behind Jaws 2) at the box office for the weekend[32] and with the all-time opening weekend records. No, give me more info, We use cookies on this site to enhance your user experience. Hook-ups between co-stars is nothing new and has been going on since the conception of Hollywood and the entertainment industry. Then we added our special feeling to it., Director Randal Kleiser had reservations about Olivia Newton-John playing Sandy. A musical romance, set in the 1950s, and starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, the film follows the story of a pair of teenagers who fall in love despite their differences. The water in the road was contaminated and ended up making some of the actors ill. In a 2018 interview, she said the cast were all ready to make a movie that was set and shot immediately after the first film but Paramount, never imagining Grease would take off like it did, vetoed the idea. Stephanie takes the baton from Greases ballsy Rizzo and runs with it. Grease was released in the United States on June 16, 1978, by Paramount Pictures. Olivia told Fox News, I kind of remember they did approach John and I to do it, and then it didnt happen. [5] The song "Hopelessly Devoted to You" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music Original Song. Jeff Conaway, who naturally stands taller than Travolta, was instructed to slouch down for scenes where he stood next to John. He did not get to perform Kenickie's featured number "Greased Lightnin'" due to Travolta's influence and desire to have that song for himself. He had been part of an ensemble in a TV comedy, but this was his first time as the star. Watch Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies: Now Streaming, Watch Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies: Grease Is The Word, Watch Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (Official Trailer), Watch Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies (UK Official Trailer), Watch Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (Teaser), Watch Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies (UK), Watch Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies: Meet The New Rydell Cliques, All of the episode titles are quotes from the original film. The masterminds behind Grease wanted the leading man, John Travolta, to standtaller than the other males in the film. [38], In the United States and globally, it became the highest-grossing musical ever at the time, eclipsing the 13-year-old record held by The Sound of Music, with a worldwide gross of $341 million. The 1978 film version of Grease benefits from a form of triple nostalgia. I played the car thief. Sandy is soon drafted into the Pink Ladies gang where she seems pious because she doesnt drink or smoke and is still a virgin. All this for a film that after such an initially muted reception, looked like it would disappear into cinematic oblivion. So it seemed a no-brainer that Paramount Studios should decide to produce a sequel. [41] It was re-released in March 1998 for its 20th anniversary, where it grossed a further $28 million in the United States and Canada. The Grease film was released in June 1978. Danny (Travolta) is the tough leader of a gang, who romances quiet Sandy (Newton-John) during the summer holiday. But when the movie was being filmed in 1977, no one knew they were making what would become the highest . The excitement didnt last long. [4], In the United Kingdom, it opened with a record $2.2 million in its first eight days. To coincide with a special sing-a-long format of Grease, showing in cinemas across the UK this Valentines Day, we take a look at how BBFC Examiners responded to their first look at the film in summer of 1978. At least Glee for the most part covers songs that people already like. Fortunately, there's nothing flat about John Travolta Travolta can't dominate this movie as he did Fever, but when he's on screen you can't watch anyone else. (At one point there were plans for a four-film franchise and a spin-off TV series. When 29-year-old Olivia Newton-John was cast as 17-year-old Sandy, she wasn't sure she should take the part. Danny tries to make it up to Sandy by taking her to a drive-in theater, but a more direct and pushy advance causes Sandy to flee in a huff. It sounds more overproduced than Glee. lakers celebrity seating chart 2019 bottle caps candy root beer only bottle caps candy root beer only The lyrics, lines, outfits, and innuendos in the movieGrease seem pretty tame, especially compared to what we hear on the radio and see on television nowadays. John Travolta was 23 at the time of filming, Olivia Newton-John was 29, and Stockard Channing was 33. In a 1998 review, Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, calling it "an average musical, pleasant and upbeat and plastic." Its a more sexually charged film, too. Danny and Sandy recount their brief romance to their respective groups, Sandy recalling a romantic summer and Danny implying a more physical experience. "I was worried I was too old," she told Sunday Night's True Stories. "[56], Retrospective reviews have generally been positive. [3] The film depicts the lives of greaser Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Australian transfer student Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John), who develop an attraction for each other during a summer romance. When Didi Conn auditioned for the role of Frenchie, she was told to do so in character. The character of Sandy was originally written as an American, but because Olivia couldnt master the accent, the character was rewritten to have come from her native Australia. Remember Olivias tight denims she wore in the finale after she had made her transformation? The project would be a joint-production collaboration with Temple Hill Productions and Picturestart. During the filming of Grease, director Randal Kleiserfell very ill after his foot became infected. [13] In a case of life imitating art, Newton-John's own musical career would undergo a transformation similar to that of the Sandy Olsson character; her next album after Grease, the provocatively titled Totally Hot, featured a much more sexual and pop-oriented approach, with Newton-John appearing on the album cover in similar all-leather attire and teased hair. Earlier this year, comedian Scott Aukerman asked the internet if Patrick Swayze had a blink and youll miss it part in the film (he didnt) and sparked a debate on whether one of the characters is, in fact, a ghost (unconfirmed). Marie was actually very close to signing, but reportedly had serious issues with Sandys transformation from good girl to bad towards the end of the film, so she dropped out of the running. The Paramount Pictures studio lot was the location of the scenes that involve Frosty Palace and the musical numbers "Greased Lightning" and "Beauty School Dropout". This success made way for a sequel, simply titled Grease 2, but a third movie never happened - here's why. Import of New Chemicals and New Uses of Chemicals. "[51], Gene Siskel gave the film three stars out of four, calling it "exciting only when John Travolta is on the screen" but still recommending it to viewers, adding, "Four of its musical numbers are genuine showstoppers that should bring applause. Or the second biggest. They were a couple of 50s teenagers fighting against great odds especially high school peer pressure to be together. Go, greased lightning! There is a dubious scene in a nuclear bunker where a T-Bird tries to coax a Pink Lady to lose her virginity to him by telling her its her patriotic duty. More like this: - The most outrageous film ever made?- The classic thats saved lives- The film that exposed our misogynistic culture, On a budget of $6m, Grease made back ten times that in just one month (and would go on to gross $400m). The film depicts the lives of greaser Danny Zuko ( John Travolta) and Australian transfer student Sandy Olsson ( Olivia Newton-John ), who develop an attraction for each other during a summer romance. [33] Despite losing the opening weekend, it topped the box office the following weekend with a gross of $7,867,000 and set a record gross in its first 19 days, with $40,272,000. Like Sandy, Michael is a newcomer at Rydell High, and a bit of a square. We are going to guess that she didn't do a whole lot of sitting while sporting those pants of hers. But Paramount did., Stockard Channing admits shes only seen the film twice in the past 40 years. On Monday, Paramount+ announced the start of production on a new Grease prequel musical series, titled Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies . A "Certificate of Conformance", "Certificate of Conformity", or "CoC" is a document issued by manufacturers or designated personnel with authority to assure customers or buyers that the product has been manufactured with test results showing compliance to international or regulatory standards. Aug 8, 2022, 1:57 PM PDT. Michelle Pfeiffer, in her pedal pushers, not listening to the men but just out there being her own badass she was a bit of a feminist icon.. "[52] Variety praised the "zesty choreography and very excellent new plus revived music", and thought Travolta and Newton-John "play together quite well. His role contained no spoken dialogue and required Lamas to bleach his hair to avoid looking like one of the T-Birds.[22][17]. The film is based on the Broadway musical of the same name. W hen Grease was released in cinemas in 1978, a starry, bubblegum-bright adaptation of the 1971 Chicago-to-Broadway musical, the initial reviews were not kind. ), Matching the success of an original is a tall order for any sequel particularly to a film as huge as Grease, and especially when youre attempting it without the star power of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, but with a new, mostly unknown cast. They were her own, but when the zipper broke she had to actually be sewn into them. Lorenzo Lamas was a last-minute replacement for Steven Ford, who developed stage fright shortly before filming and backed out, and Mark Fidrych, who ran into conflicts with his full-time career as a baseball player. I thought it was also wonderful that people were still talking about it all these years later. But after the film aired on BBC One on Boxing Day some hit out, citing . Coincidentally, this scene as well as the scene before and the scene after it were filmed on August 16, 1977, the date of Presley's death.[76]. [24] Caesar was one of several veterans of 1950s television (Eve Arden, Frankie Avalon, Joan Blondell, Edd Byrnes, Alice Ghostley, Dody Goodman) to be cast in supporting roles; Paul Lynde was considered for the role Arden ultimately filled. "Grease" came out in June 1978, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John as Danny and Sandy. Olivia was 28-years-old and John was 23-years-old when they filmed Grease and the pair were on the edge of superstardom while shooting the movie. I thought surely thats the stuff that will impress people. In Grease, no one cares who's 'going all the way', if anything, girls who aren't having sex are treated as prudish. [11][12], John Travolta had previously worked with Stigwood on Saturday Night Fever, recorded the top-10 hit "Let Her In" in 1976, and had previously appeared as Doody in a touring production of the stage version of Grease. Grease is the word! The actors jived and gyrated to the tunes until they dropped literally dropped. Rumor has it, Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty were among those who counted themselves as non-fans. [17] Channing lobbied heavily to keep the climactic song "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" in the score over Carr's objections. Grease (1978) came to the BBFC for classification in June 1978. Speaking on the Mamma Mia No Filter podcast in 2018, 72-year-old Olivia Newton-John revealed why she couldn't date John Travolta during filming and why it helped the chemistry on screen. In other words, the digital certificate has expired long times ago. [2] Another re-issue took place in select AMC Theatres locations in August 2022 to honor Olivia Newton-John following her death earlier that month, with $1 per sold ticket and the proceeds going to breast cancer research, through a donation by AMC Cares. Since John was big news at the time, having just filmed Saturday Night Fever, he got the part, and Conaway had to take a backseat to Mr. Big Shot. The film was successful both critically and commercially, becoming the highest-grossing musical film at the time. Even those who might be forgiven for wanting to forget all about the film seem to have softened. Those pants were no joke, though. [17] Coincidentally, Frankie Avalon and Randal Kleiser had both appeared in 1966's Fireball 500, the latter as an extra. Forty years ago, Grease the movie had America singing and dancing their way into and out of theaters, their inspiration coming (not surprisingly) from the cast, particularly John Travolta as Danny Zuko and singer Olivia Newton-John as Sandy Olsson. I can see its charm now, he said. How is she going to become this slut?, It was Johns opinion, as he shared with askjimmycarter.com, that there was only one person on the planet that could be Sandy, and that was Olivia Newton-John, and I was hell-bent to get her in this movie., Olivia was nervous about doing the film, telling the Telegraph, I worried that at 29 I was too old to play a high-school girl. You can also rent or buy "Grease" to watch . It was released on Blu-ray Disc on May 5, 2009. There was one called All Alone at the Drive-In Movie, and it was a nice song, but it wasnt something that John could really wail with, so we wrote Sandy instead. NORTH EUROPEAN Oil Corp. doesn't exist anymore, but if you stumble across one of the company's old stock certificates, don't throw it away: A $100 investment in the . When the summer comes to an end, Sandy frets that they may never meet again, but Danny tells her that their love is "only the beginning". Closer Weekly is part of the a360media Entertainment Group.Copyright a360media 2023. This was Grease 2s major point of difference to the first a gender reversal in which it was the man who was the cardigan-wearing goodie-two-shoes, while Pfeiffers Zinone was the too-cool-for-school classmate everyone either wanted to be or be with. The part of Danny Zuko was originally offered to Henry Winkler, then riding high as The Fonz on Happy Days, but he turned down the opportunity out of fear of typecasting (plus the fact that he didnt really sing played into that decision as well). Those who have 4K capability will want to decide if Paramount's new updated color palette for the movie is to their liking, but this one still falls firmly in Recommended territory.
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