‘Grease’ Gets A Musical Spinoff Series On HBO Max, Fans Promised It Will ‘Stay True To Original’ Film

Grease, the 1978 hit movie starring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta is getting a spinoff series on HBO Max that is inspired by the legendary film. The creators have promised fans that the show will be a new take on the classic film, but will also stay true to the original.

The streaming service HBO Max, which is owned by WarnerMedia, has ordered Grease: Rydell High, a musical series inspired by the movie, reported People.

The series will be set in and around Rydell High, the place where greaser Danny Zuko (Travolta) and Aussie transfer student Sandy Olsson (Newton-John) fell in love despite the fact that they were from dramatically different worlds.

A press release for the series stated that, per People, the show will feature “some characters you already know, and a whole lot more you will soon meet. It’s still the 1950s, a world that rocks with big musical numbers from the period combined with new original songs as well. It’s the peer pressures of high school, the horrors of puberty, and the rollercoaster of life in middle America with a modern sensibility that will bring it to life for today’s movie musical lovers.”

“This is high school and life in a small-town USA told on the scale of a big rock’n’roll musical. It’s Grease 2.0 but with the same spirit, energy, and excitement you immediately think of when you hear any of these iconic songs,” said Sarah Aubrey, head of original content at HBO Max, as reported by People.

There is no indication as of yet if the new series will be a half-hour or hour long.

Set to launch in 2020, HBO Max will feature a mixture of established content including Game of Thrones, Friends, and The Big Bang Theory, as well as originals including a new version of Gossip Girl and The Boondocks, as well as a female-focused new chapter of Dune, as seen in The Hollywood Reporter.

The Inquisitr previously reported that a prequel film is in the works for Grease titled Summer Lovin’. The film will give the backstory on Danny and Sandy’s “Summer Nights” at the beach before they unexpectedly reunited on the first day of school.

The song “Summer Nights” does detail the twosome’s relationship, explaining how they met and the way they felt about one another. Sandy then returned to her native Australia, or so Danny thought. The film’s storyline hasn’t been revealed yet, so it is unclear as to when the origin story will begin.

The last time Grease was featured prominently on television was for Grease Live, broadcast on Fox January 31, 2016. It was a televised remake of the 1978 film starring Julianne Hough, Aaron Tveit, Vanessa Hudgens, and Carlos PenaVega.

A premiere date for Grease: Rydell High has yet to be announced.