‘Grease’ Is About to Get a Prequel Called ‘Summer Loving’

LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 24: Actress/Singer Olivia Newton-John and actor John Travolta from the movie “Grease” attend the Celebration of Paramount Studio’s 90th Anniversary with the release of six all-time musical favorites “Grease”, “Saturday Night Fever”, “Flashdance”, “Footloose”, “Urban Cowboy” and “Staying Alive” on September 22, 2002 at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
More than 40 years after the original Grease was released, the film is about to get a prequel from Paramount, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film, “Summer Loving,” is set to tackle the meeting of characters Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson, played by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, respectively. The meeting is mentioned in the original Grease song “Summer Nights,” which covers each character’s perspective of that “fateful” night.
THR reports that the studio has tapped writer John August to pen the script. He has previously worked on films like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Big Fish.
The original Grease has continuously proven to be a huge hit for the studio, even four decades after its release in 1978. While the sequel to Grease, starring Michelle Pheiffer and Maxwell Caulfield and released in 1982, wasn’t quite as big of a hit, the original film has been reissued for anniversary editions multiple times.
In 2016, a live-action version of the film, starring Vanessa Hudgens and Julianne Hough, aired on Fox and went on to win multiple Emmys.