There's finally a Mean Girls: The Musical trailer - and The Plastics are back with a gen-z twist

Are you ready for the film based on the musical based on the film?

Mean Girls the musical trailer
(Image credit: 2023 Paramount Pictures)

If there's one film that most millennial women can quote impeccably, it's probably Mean Girls. The original movie, starring Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried and Lacey Chabert, was a huge success when it landed in cinemas in 2004 - and it has since spawned everything from Mean Girls themed afternoon teas to the award-winning Mean Girls musical (which is coming to London next year, FYI).

And the power of The Plastics is so incredible that a movie based on the musical spin-off has been made and is set for release early next year. That's right - a film, based on the Broadway adaptation of the original film. Are the die hard Mean Girls fans complaining? Absolutely not. But judging by the trailer, which dropped this week, you can expect to recognise some familiar faces, characters and lines while also embracing the tweaks and updates that are to be anticipated after almost two decades. 

The trailer for Mean Girls: The Musical sees the original roles reprised by new faces, with Cady Heron played by Angourie Rice, Renee Rapp as Regina George, Avantika Vandanapu as Karen Smith and Bebe Wood as Gretchen Wieners. Returning castmates include Tina Fey as Ms. Norbury and Tim Meadows as Mr. Duvall, while a host of new A-listers will be joining the Mean Girls family, including Busy Phillips as Mrs. George and Jon Hamm as Coach Carr.  

The storyline is expected to follow the original, with homeschooled Cady joining a high school and finding her way at North Shore, which is run by the Queen Bee, Regina. It will also be punctuated by musical numbers, although Tina Fey revealed that there will be new songs, and they won't just be using the tracks from the successful musical.

In an interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers, she said: "In Broadway, everything has to play to the back of the house, and in movies, everything can come back in and things can play really intimately. We have a very cool directing team, a very cool choreographer. It's going to be great."

Fans have noticed some key differences between the latest offering when compared to the original noughties movie. The marketing appears to emphasise that it's 'not your mother's Mean Girls', and with a gen-z approved cast it's likely to cast a wide net in terms of audience - whether it's the millennials indulging in remake nostalgia, or teens enjoying the experience of the Mean Girls universe for the first time.

The film will be released on 12th January 2024 in the US, with the UK release expected to be on 19th January. 

Excited? 

Jadie Troy-Pryde
News Editor

Jadie Troy-Pryde is News Editor, covering celebrity and entertainment, royal, lifestyle and viral news. Before joining the team in 2018 as the Lifestyle and Social Media Editor, she worked at a number of women’s fashion and lifestyle titles including Grazia, Women’s Health and Stylist, and now heads the Marie Claire UK news desk.