‘Grease’ TV Spinoff ‘Rydell High’ Coming Soon

Grease is the word! The Hollywood Reporter shares that a Grease spinoff titled Rydell High is on its way to HBO Max, with the series having been given a straight-to-series order. The series, like the original film, is set in the 1950s and will include some characters from the classic movie. Through musical numbers from the era and original songs, Rydell High “will explore the peer pressures of high school, the horrors of puberty and life in middle America with a modern sensibility.”

A premiere date, episode count and run time for the series are not yet known, and a search is currently underway for a writer on the show.

Grease arrived on the big screen in 1978 and was followed by a sequel, Grease 2, in 1982. Paramount TV previously revived the franchise in 2016 for a live musical production on Fox, which starred Julianne Hough, Aaron Tveit and Vanessa Hudgens and earned five Emmy Awards. In addition, a prequel movie titled Summer Loving is currently in development.

“Grease is an iconic pop-culture phenomenon that works for every generation, and I’m thrilled that our friends at Paramount were excited about the idea of opening up the show and putting it on a larger canvas for a weekly series,” said Sarah Aubrey, head of content at HBO Max. “This is high school and life in 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. You’re the One That I Want!”

“Grease is one of the most beloved Paramount titles and it’s a thrill to be reimagining it for today’s audience with our good friends at Temple Hill and Picturestart,” added Paramount TV president Nicole Clemens. “When Bob Greenblatt called about bringing it to television, we knew we would be in the perfect hands because of our great working relationship with HBO Max and Bob’s genuine passion for musicals and Grease in particular.”

HBO Max is the upcoming streaming platform for WarnerMedia and will contain a number of library titled including Game of Thrones and Friends as well as new content like a Gossip Girl reboot. The service is scheduled to launch around the end of the year.

Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures