Grease
Official franchise logo, as released in 1978.
Created by	Jim Jacobs &Warren Casey
Original work	Grease
Owners	Paramount Pictures (Paramount Global)
Years	1971–present
Films and television
Film(s)	Grease (1978) Grease 2 (1982) Premaloka (1987)
Television series	Grease: You're the One That I Want! (2007) Grease Is the Word (2007) Grease: The School Musical (2023) Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (2023)
Theatrical presentations
Musical(s)	Grease (1971) Cool Rider (2014)
Games
Video game(s)	Grease (2010) Grease Dance (2011)

TheGrease franchise consists of American films and television productions, based on the1971 musical. The stage production was first adapted for film withGrease (1978), followed byGrease 2 (1982). A prequel titledSummer Lovin' entered development beginning in 2019.

The franchise centers around the students of Rydell High, with each individual entry depicting thelove story of a couple at opposite ends of thepopularity spectrum: one, a popular and unruly student while the other is a shy immigrant and new student who is well behaved. The pair ultimately help each other step out of their comfort zone, balance each other out, and realize their ideal selves. The musical explores the themes of classic rock and roll overcoming differences (including opposing gangs), as the students experience high school and make memories together.

Revered as acult classic,^[1] the original film was met with critical and financial success, and quickly becamehighest-grossing musical film ever (circa 1978),^[2] while itssoundtrack album ended 1978 as thesecond-best-selling album of the year in the United States.^[3] The film earned anOscar nomination at the51st Academy Awards. In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in theNational Film Registry by theLibrary of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".^[4] The sequel however, did not fare well at the box office nor with critics and was nominated for aStinkers Bad Movie Awards for Worst Picture.^[5] Later on, it was awarded No. 13 in the 100 worst films of the 20th century, in Stinkers' "100 Years, 100 Stinkers" list.^[6][7]

The film series expanded into a franchise with the release of aBroadway musical adaptation, various reality television programs centered around the Broadway production, as well as releases in various other mediums. It will continue with the release of astreaming television series titledGrease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, an exclusive onParamount+. Additionally, a prequel film titledSummer Lovin', which will depict the summer prior to the events ofGrease, is in early development.

Grease is a 1971 stage musical, originally written byJim Jacobs andWarren Casey, that originated from theChicago theater scene. It moved toOff-Broadway and then toBroadway in 1972, where it ran until 1980. The original musical was set in urban Chicago and was based on Jacobs's own teenage years, with several of the characters having identifiablyPolish-American and Italian-American ethnicities. The Chicago production was more profane and had less musical elements, while the writers partially sanitized the production for Broadway audiences.^[8] The musical functioned as anensemble comedy, while the subplots involving supporting characters were given greater development. The stage production ends with a definitive decision in Danny's favor, as he reverts to his old ways while Sandy transforms into the wild Pink Lady to fit in.^[9]

In fall 1958 following their summer romance, wholesome Australian immigrant Sandra "Sandy" Olsson and populargreaser Daniel "Danny" Zuko find themselves classmates, when Sandy enrolls at Rydell High School (in a generic setting based on suburbanPhiladelphia)^[10] instead of moving back home. At Rydell, Danny has long been thede facto leader of the T-Birds, a crew of fellow greasers; the T-Birds' female counterparts are the Pink Ladies, a tight-knitclique helmed by queen bee Betty Rizzo. As Danny attempts to maintain his reputation in the T-Birds as the coolest guy at the school among his peers, he struggles with keeping his relationship with Sandy alive. Sandy stands by her morals and education, being torn between the upright preppies of Rydell High (typified by cheerleader Patty Simcox) and the cruder Pink Ladies, to whose influences she eventually succumbs to keep Danny. Along the way the couple and their friends, experience adolescence among 1950srock and roll culture:sex,substance abuse, and music.^[11]

Grease was re-released in May 1979 in 1,248 theatres in the United States and Canada, Paramount's biggest ever saturation release at the time, and grossed $4.5 million in its opening weekend.^[12][13] During the reissue, it overtookThe Godfather and became Paramount Pictures' highest-grossing film of all-time.^[14] It was re-released in March 1998 for its 20th anniversary where it grossed a further $28 million in North America.^[15] An additional re-release in 2018, for its 40th anniversary grossed $1 million.^[15]

In 1961, Stephanie Zinone has succeeded to the leadership of the Pink Ladies following Rizzo's graduation in the first film. Tired of the recurring drama, Stephanie breaks up with her boyfriend Johnny Nogerelli. She receives the admiration of Michael Carrington, a mild-manneredbookish new exchange student and Sandy's cousin. Michael seeks to overcome his nerdy ways while earning her affections by learning to ride a motorcycle, and taking on a secret identity that his peers call the "Cool Rider". Johnny grows jealous of Michelle's romantic pursuits, and as the leader of the T-Birds attempts to use his popularity to win her back.^[16]

In 2003,Olivia Newton-John confirmed that a second sequel was being developed. "They're writing it, and we'll see what happens. If the script looks good, I'll do it. But I haven't seen the script, and it has to be cleverly done."^[17] Newton-John died in 2022 before any such script was completed.^[18]

In 2008, it was reported that Paramount was planning a new sequel toGrease that would debutstraight to DVD.^[19]

In April 2019, Paramount Pictures announced a prequel movie titledSummer Lovin' was in development, withJohn August serving as screenwriter. The project will be a joint-venture production from Paramount Pictures,Paramount Players,Temple Hill Productions, andPicturestart. Receiving its title from thesong, the plot will center around the summer in which Danny and Sandy met and fell in love.^[20] By July 2020,Brett Haley was hired to serve as director with the most recent draft of the script being written by Leah McKendrick.^[21]

A reality television series of a talent competition of singing and dancing. From the producers ofDancing With the Stars, the series was patterned after a format designed and created byAndrew Lloyd Webber for theBBC seriesHow Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?. Hosted byBilly Bush andDenise van Outen, the series featured celebrity judges Kathleen Marshall and David Ian alongside co-creator Jim Jacobs, who helped narrow the search for the Broadway leads among the contestants.^[22]

The program generated so much interest in the upcoming Broadway revival that, ticket sales had topped $9 million. Despite this the series was declared a "ratings loser".^[23]

The United Kingdom version ofNBC'sGrease: You're the One That I Want!, which aired in 2007. The series was a production of Syco TV forITV, withSimon Cowell serving as producer. The winning couple,Susan McFadden & Danny Bayne, became the stars of theWest End revival production of the stage musical at thePiccadilly Theatre.

The judges wereDavid Ian,David Gest,Sinitta, andBrian Friedman. The series was hosted byZoe Ball. The after-show titledGreased Lightnin' shared unseen auditions, behind-the-scenes videos, and interviews; was hosted byHolly Willoughby and aired onITV2.^[24]

Grease Live! is a television special that was originally broadcast byFox on January 31, 2016. It was a live, televised remake of the 1978 filmGrease, executive produced byMarc Platt, directed byThomas Kail, and starringJulianne Hough,Aaron Tveit,Vanessa Hudgens andCarlos PenaVega. Patterned on similar live television musicals that had recently been produced byNBC, the production incorporated elements and songs from both the original stage musical and the1978 film version ofGrease, as well as additional songs and a few elements (such as changing Sandy's last name toYoung to reflect Hough's own background) that were not present in either. In an effort to emulate the "energy" of a theatrical setting, live audiences were incorporated into the production's stagings.Grease Live! was broadcast fromWarner Bros. Studios, using two soundstages and the studio's outdoorbacklot—the usage of the latter was notably affected by rain in the Los Angeles area on the day of the broadcast.^[25][26]

In September 2019, a musical television series was announced to be in development titled,Grease: Rydell High. The show was ordered straight-to-series, and was to release exclusively onHBO Max. The project was a joint-production betweenParamount Television, Picturestart, andTemple Hill Entertainment.Erik Feig served as producer for the show. The series was a prequel to the original film with returning and new characters, as well as new and old songs.^[27] By April 2020, Annabel Oakes was hired as writer andexecutive producer for the series.^[28] In May of the same year, the project was retitled asGrease: Rise of the Pink Ladies.^[29] In October 2020, it was announced that the series would be moving toParamount+.^[30] Paramount+ released the ten episodes of the series over the course of spring 2023 before abruptly removing the series from public view that June.^[31]

Following the film's success, stage adaptations were revived. Despite this, the new productions were adjusted to align closer with the film release.

• Grease: Due to the popularity of the film adaptation and the involvement of film producer Robert Stigwood in the West End revival in 1993, the subsequent revivals adopted several of the changes made in the film. One notable change includes renaming the Burger Palace Boys to their film name of T-Birds. However, in the revival the role of Sandy Dumbrowski maintains the original character name from the original stage production.John Farrar, who wrote two of the new songs is credited alongside Jacobs and Casey for the music in these productions. The revival was met with mixed critical reception.^[42][43]
• Cool Rider:Grease 2 was later adapted into a musical, albeit with an alternate title, with the script re-written and modified for the stage on Broadway and theWest End.^[44] The Broadway production received positive critic reviews, favorably calling it superior over the film.^[45]

A music party video game titledGrease was released for theWii andNintendo DS video game consoles in 2010.

Grease Dance, arhythm dance game was released in 2011 for thePlayStation 3 andXbox 360.

• Sha Na Na, syndicated television variety show first broadcast from 1977 to 1981

• Official website

• Grease (musical)
• Adventure film series
• Musical film series
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