It’s a Wednesday, so you better be wearing pink — because the upcoming Mean Girls musical adaptation film has finally released its first trailer. So fetch.
Paramount debuted the full sneak peek on November 8, giving fans a taste of the new film based on the 2018 Broadway adaptation of the 2004 classic comedy. In it, we re-meet all of our favorite characters, who are now played by new faces. Pop singer Renee Rapp reprises her role as the iconic Regina George from the Broadway stage, where she originated the part.
Mare of Easttown star Angourie Rice plays the story’s central protagonist, Cady, a character made famous by Lindsay Lohan. Moana’s Auli’i Cravalho and A Strange Loop’s Jaquel Spivey are taking on the roles of the film’s central dream team, Janis and Damien, who befriend Cady when she becomes the new kid at their high school. You know the story: they join forces to bring down the Plastics, a clique helmed by Regina George — but Cady starts to fall for Regina’s boyfriend, Aaron Samuels, played in the musical film by Christopher Briney.
Tina Fey, who wrote and starred in the original film and penned the stage musical, returns to reprise her role as Mrs. Norbury as well as screenwriter on the musical film. Tim Meadows also returns as the hilarious Principal Duvall. Plus, there are a whole new set of adult actors involved, including Jenna Fischer, Busy Phillips, Ashley Park, and Jon Hamm.
Fey also produced this new incarnation of the beloved story alongside Lorna Mitchells, with Arturo Perez and Samantha Jayne directing. The film’s music is by Jeff Richmond with lyrics by Nell Benjamin — however, it is noticeably absent from this first trailer. Interesting choice, Paramount. It's anyone's guess if the studio will debut any of the film's music ahead of time, but it seems it's purposefully keeping it under wraps for the time being. Hmm.
Originally, Mean Girls was scheduled for a Paramount+ streaming debut but was later moved to a theatrical release, which is slated for January 12, 2024.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
