Grease is one of the most popular and beloved musicals, and it got a cinematic adaptation in 1978 which was equally successful as the stage musical. This success made way for a sequel, simply titled Grease 2, but a third movie never happened – here’s why. Among the most common practices in the film industry is adapting stage musicals to the big screen, but no matter how popular these might be, not all reach the same success as the original musical. However, there are others that, while different, were well-received by viewers and critics and have become classics, as is the case of Grease.
Based on the 1971 musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, Grease was directed by Randal Kleiser and starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John as high schoolers Danny Zuko and Sandra Olsson. Grease tells the story of the summer romance between Danny and Sandy, who end up coming across various obstacles once school starts and they realize they come from very different backgrounds and cliques. Of course, the essence of Grease is the music, which combined songs from the stage version and original ones, such as “You’re the One That I Want” and “Hopelessly Devoted To You”, and also became widely popular with the audience. The success of Grease made way for a sequel, Grease 2, which completely failed to connect with the audience.
Grease 2 was directed by Patricia Birch, choreographer of the first movie and the stage musical, and starred Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer. Set two years after the first movie and once more at Rydell High School, Grease 2 follows the romance between Michael and Stephanie, who come across the same problems as Danny and Sandy, only this time Stephanie is the leader of the Pink Ladies and Michael does what he can to fit her vision of the ideal man. Grease 2 was a critical and commercial failure, putting an end to any plans for a third movie, though the idea for Grease 3 reemerged years later, but once more didn’t go past a concept.
In 2003, it was announced (via People) that Grease 3 was in development at Paramount Pictures and the studio was looking to bring Travolta and Newton-John back. The idea was for Grease 3 to follow the children of Danny and Sandy in the late 1970s and now with disco music as the soundtrack's genre. It was also reported that Didi Conn (Frenchy in Grease) would serve as an executive producer and was instrumental in getting the third movie off the ground, but the project never fully took off. Although Newton-John shared she would be willing to return for Grease 3, she said it would only happen if the story was good as it had to be “cleverly done”. Later, in 2008, it was reported that Paramount was planning a new Grease sequel for a straight to DVD release, but that never came to fruition either. Grease 3, then, has been stopped by the major failure of Grease 2, the lack of a good story, and the studio changing its plans.
It’s unlikely Grease 3 will happen now, but that doesn’t mean that the franchise has closed its doors. In 2019, plans for a prequel to the original Grease were announced, titled Summer Lovin’, with Brett Haley joining as director, and later that year, a TV series titled Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies was announced, and is planned to be released on Paramount+. Grease 3 isn’t what the franchise needs, mostly after the failure of Grease 2, but hopefully, the new projects will be handled better and tell engaging stories with catchy music.