The Confusing Marketing of The Mean Girls Musical Reboot 

the marketing is smart in the way it generates publicity but it alienates both audiences - people who only watched the original film, and musical theatre fans

I also find it interesting how the marketing centres Regina and not Kady this time.

i'm so sure that people who hate musicals will watch this film not knowing it is one and walk out of the theater annoyed

“This is a movie based on a musical based on the movie”. Yes. Hairspray exists and made plenty of money. There’s nothing confusing about that concept.

Regina George would NEVER be caught dead in a leather jacket or combat boots lol, that’s Janis’s thing

If any musical adaptation of a film should be adapted into a film it’s Legally Blonde. Such a funny musical

Some tea from someone who was in test audiences: - Many songs have been cut, including Cady's intro song. - Aarons actor doesnt sing at all. The lead man in a movie musical.....does not sing in the musical.

Also the marketing for musical is so interesting. In 2004, Lindsay Lohan was the It Girl and the movie was for her, so it made sense that she was on the marketing campaigns. With the movie musical, (aside from the adult actors), Renee Rapp is probably the biggest star and it makes sense for her to be on the poster. In 2018, The Musical was reworked/rewritten for the Plastics to have bigger roles in the show (Taylor Louderman was even nominated for a Tony for best Lead actress for playing Regina), and all of the marketing featured The Plastics as opposed to featuring Cady. I think when creating the musical, Tina and the creative team realized that people are more interested by The Plastics then by Cady, and since it’s called Mean Girls, it makes more sense for the Mean Girls to be the focus of the promotional materials.

I will say having Ashley Park, who was the original actress for Gretchen in the musical, play the school's french teacher, when Park's most known role is in Emily In Paris, is genius.

Reminds me of the marketing for Into the Woods. Dark fairy tales were popular at the time, so they went hard on that angle, but none of the songs made it to the trailer. When we arrived at the theater to watch it, the guy selling us the tickets straight up said, "Just so you know, this IS a musical." I had to wonder how many people walked out demanding refunds for that to be something they had to warn people of in advance. Also, the Into the Woods movie was not great.

So it’s like high school musical: the musical: the show? 🤣🤣

One thing i will say, as a theater goer I have seen many musicals and movie musicals. Everyone is talking about how it is super weird how they made a movie based on a musical based on a movie, but this is nothing new at all. Even little shop of horrors and Hairspray did this. This has been done multiple times successfully and unsuccessfully, so we can really only see how it turns out.

The thing that got me was the styling. To the point it takes me out of my suspension of disbelief. It kinda looks like the outfits/styling they show you when buying something on a website. Or asking AI to compile 2020s outfits statistically. lt works individually standing still in a photoshoot but in the film it looks like clothes they were given not the characters’ actual clothing. Regina is supposed to be the queen bee of the school and look good but that one outfit the trio wore outside didn’t flatter her (Renee) at all. Overall it didn’t look as cohesive and seeing clips from the og movie hammered it home.

i hate hate HATE the costuming like what were they thinking…thats one of the thing that makes the original movie soo iconic

Great video - but I will point out I think Chicago was actually the height of mainstream musical movies (not necessarily the best movie just the most mainstream and acclaimed), considering it won Best Picture plus a bunch of others, and is probably the only reason shows like Les Mis were able to be adapted into big budget movies.

i wouldn’t say mean girls has a cult following, but from what i’ve noticed, a lot of theatre fans loved the show specifically because of the cast. The cast members were all super close friends, always doing things together, bonding, and promoting the show. (the OG Cady and Aaron actors were dating and just recently got married too) It was very noticeable and gave a great vibe to seeing the show. Erika Henningsen’s vlogs were extremely popular as well, and I remember massive crowds of people rushing/getting tickets for a show if it was a last performance of a departing cast member. It’s not the greatest show ever (it’s definitely entertaining) but the fan base was more of a devotion to the actors than to the actual musical IMO.

There’s no way of rightly talking movie musicals without mentioning La La Land. It was a huge success, Hollywood thought for a few minutes the musical fever would come back… Specially since it’s a homage to a lot of classic. Alas, it didn’t work for the genre itself. I don’t think we’ll have it again like in old Hollywood; more like individual movies having success than a whole genre.

They actually made a Matilda musical movie based on the musical based on the movie based on the book, and ngl the musical movie slapped, I still listen to 'revolting children' in my day to day. Like, this is the concept Mean Girls was trying to achieve, but actually achieved correctly

4:00 lest you forget mean girls 2004 is technically based on a book as well, so it's a movie based on a musical based on a movie based on a book

Another case of a similar thing happening is Hairspray. A movie. Turned into a musical. Turned into a movie musical.

Hollywood's relationship to musicals is so fascinating to me as someone who loves the genre. The last ~20 years have been an interesting period to follow for hollywood movie musicals because they keep trying to make fetch happen with them despite most movie musicals being commercial flops critical flops or both. I think this recent wave of movie musicals has really been carried by the Hamilton mania and the unexpectedly massive box office numbers of The Greatest Showman. As a lover of the medium I always hope movie musicals will be good and a lot of recent ones have been. Shout out to Matilda, In the Heights, West Side Story (2021) and Tick Tick Boom. But I fear the lackluster box office numbers for musicals and the massive flop of Cats and Dear Evan hansen will see less produced.

I keep forgetting that other people don’t know about the musical version because it was literally unavoidable if you were into theater at the time 😭 the theater fandom was THE fandom at the time I’m shocked so many people didn’t hear of it

there was a much briefer trailer that featured renee singing playing before last night's showing of the eras tour and all i could think was "they heard the complaints online and edited a new version REAL quick".

It feels like, ever since Cats, people are afraid to market movie musicals as movie musicals. I love musicals. But I know people hate musicals would hate to get surprised with a movie musical. And I hate that Cats was such a colossal dumpster fire because I love Cats. But it was adapted made no sense. It was adapted by someone who didn't understand the material. (You can't literally have a character scream "Touch me! It's so easy to leave me!" literally two seconds after Victoria picks up Grizabella. It negates the ENTIRE THING.) Do I think this will be as bad as Cats? No. Do I think it'll have that air of "yeah, we're embarrassed to be in a musical"? I think maybe a little bit. Which is frustrating.

Back in 2007, moviegoers were excited to see the new Tim Burton/Johnny Depp/Helena Bonham Carter team-up... and then walked out of the movie because none of the marketing indicated that Sweeney Todd was a musical. It's going to happen all over again and I am utterly bewildered - NO ONE likes being tricked by a trailer into thinking they're watching one thing, only for it to be something very different. It's also deliberate and mean-spirited (no pun intended); if you know what to look for you can kind of see where people are actually singing and dancing, but this has been edited around to fool the viewer. Who is this movie being marketed to? Musical theatre fans aren't going to watch this because there's nothing here to indicate this is a musical. Maybe some would recognise Renee Rapp (I've never heard of her outside of the context of this) but there are PLENTY of actors who take on musical and standard acting roles. Just because Eddie Redmayne played Marius in Les Mis we're not going to assume that all of his projects will be musicals. Fans of the original film aren't going to watch it because as a society we are BORED with remakes. Even the costumes are so similar that it could be a shot-for-shot duplicate, without the nostalgic pull of beloved actors. So who is going to be left to buy tickets? Is the pool of teenage girls that large? Maybe, I don't know.

I saw the musical on my 16th birthday, and seeing it live definitely made me like the songs better. It was fun and campy. I got to meet Renee and she signed my playbill. I'm now 20, and when the news came out about the movie I was really happy- until I saw the trailer. The marketing was confusing, the outfits are... just terrible, and I just don't think it translates well to a movie musical. That being said I will be there opening day with a pink outfit to relive my teenage years.

yea i’m going into this movie knowing that it’s gonna be bad especially because they’re hiding that it’s a musical. when i saw the musical on broadway it was cringe but at least i could suspend my disbelief a little more because it’s theater and this movie doesn’t look like it can make up for the cringe that is already so evident in the trailer

To be fair, the only reason I’m so hyped for this movie is because I absolutely love Reneé Rapp and everything she does but if she wasn’t cast, I literally wouldn’t care about the movie even though I’m intimately familiar with the musical

They really set up these young actors sooo bad to get dragged. While no one asked for a mean girls remake that's not even what this is supposed to be!

Quick thing: On your point about mainstream movie musicals you consider Les Mis to be a sort of first as a blockbuster musical, and while that one was certainly a huge stepping stone I think Chicago probably did a lot to pave the way to that beforehand. That one also received massive acclaim and a lot of box office attention

It is absolutely Trojan horsing. I have told multiple people that it is an adaptation of the Broadway musical and they had no idea one even existed.

Surprised you didn’t mention a color purple. It’s the exact same situation- movie to musical to movie- and it’s coming out in like a month.

It’s so funny hearing ppl say they don’t know/don’t like the means girls musical cuz DEM MEAN GIRLS MUSICAL ANIMATIIIICSSSS they were all over RU-vid for me and my friends (we were literally obsessed) and they were the only things I would watch before actually seeing it on broadway. Also Sabrina carpenter was in the musical for a bit as kady I believe and I saw a lot of Sabrina fans talking about that when it happened

My sister and I are already planning to see it together when it comes out. I can’t wait to love it, but if it’s bad that’s just as fun.

(( mid-video need to say; have rewatched Mean Girls recently and honestly, it still holds up. I'd argue theres not much thats cringe that wasn't already considered cringe when we first got it )) their insistence on refusing to directly acknowledge that this is going to be a musical movie is so damn weird though - I legitimately had no realization it was based on the musical until I saw a movie critic I follow on Twitter mention that fact which forced me to investigate the marketing from that angle to confirm it.

The girl playing Cady is Angourie Rice who absolutely deserves the attention

I thought Shein was pronounced "She-in" not "Shine"

The trailer really just looks like an SNL skit to me.....or like a really high budget parody of the original movie

There’s actually a joke in 30 Rock in which Liz gives Jenna fake award for Best Actress in a Movie Based on a Musical Based on a Movie (which is later revealed to be a cookie)

i would say that chicago and moulin rouge also broke into the movie musical scene back in the 2000's heck chicago won an oscar

i gave the musical a chance and i didn't think it was that great either. i'm definitely a believer that some movies can make great musicals (the groundhog day adaptation is genuinely amazing), but it has to be done in a way that makes full use of theatre as a medium. when you kind of just throw songs into an existing story, and especially when you put that back onto the screen, a lot of that potential is lost. speaking of paramount, i'm so sad that they've now dragged frasier into the reboot circle. it's one of my favorite shows of all time and the new one is pretty much just generic modern sitcom but frasier is there now 😭

why do we have to put down angourie rice to prop up renee rapp? women fighting women

Omg please go on more theatre tangents, they're great. 😂 Also I also saw a trailer for mean girls the musical the movie and they did use Renee Rapp's "My name is Regina George...." line for it, but I had the exact same convo with my best friend sitting next to me "They're making another Mean girls movie?" "No, this is a movie of the musical from a few years ago."

I liked the musical. I thought it was good but not great. The thing about it that surprised me the most, and I think the movie promo is falling into the same trap, is how little Regina George is actually in it. I thought she was the lead based on the advertising and how they do the cast listing, but she literally has two songs, if you arent counting the Jingle Bell Rock scene and the finale. Only one, "World Burn," is a solo song and the other is a song about the Plastics where she sings a few lines. Every other main character, besides Aaron, has way more stage time and stuff to do than Regina. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I actually think Janis the co-lead of the musical with Cady. Janis is the narrator and most of it revolves around her and Cady's relationship, which is even funnier because they barely even show Janis in the trailer. Its just so interesting how Regina, a character who can just barely be called a supporting character, is somehow the star now. Unrelated, but I saw the tour with Mariah Rose Faith as Regina and she was absolutely amazing. Highly recommend everyone check her out if they aren't familiar with her.

I was so confused about your introduction because in my bubble everyone knows the musical and liked it XD I didn’t know it was so unpopular. But you’re right about your criticism regarding the movie! I’d be so happy about a hamilton-like recording of the musical but they really don’t need a whole reboot…

what's interesting is that the teaser trailer i saw that played before the eras tour movie HAD world burn as the background song or at least they played a snippet of it, then the official trailer drops and theres just olivia rodrigo?? i was so confused but im glad im not the only one who noticed

I will say despite the issues with the marketing, I think people that don't like musicals don't get how happy this makes me, a musical theater fan. Renee Rapp was a goddess on her musical runs, and for so young too. I genuinely cannot wait to have another musical made into a watchable format just so I don't need to give money to support the BS that is affording broadway tickets.

The trailer could be this way due to potential production issues. The fact that this is dropping in January is not a good sign because that’s when studios typically dump their projects they anticipate as not doing well financially. Also, remember we’re only just now coming out of a strike that put a good chunk of the film industry on ice for about a year. Perhaps there are elements pertaining to the soundtrack (or even the film itself) that aren’t finished yet, but they had to get a trailer up by a certain deadline anyway so they just put something together out of whatever they could use without needing to call the actors back in.

Just like people were tragically confused when the Matilda musical was on Netflix. People need to get out more

I didn’t even know this was a thing so thanks for keeping me in the loop lol

honestly what makes me most annoyed is the fact that they fumbled the costuming so hard. The outfits from the original movie are so good but in the on-stage version of the musical and this the costuming is so horrible.

I thought it was Chicago and Moulin Rouge that revived the movie musical, hooper really doesn’t deserve the credit for reviving them lmao

appreciate the BOTTOMS shoutout -- it's so so so good

It’s particularly interesting they went with this angle when you consider the teaser trailer (that played before the Eras Tour movie) was definitely not shy about letting people know it’s a musical

when I heard you say be more chill I had so many flashbacks. please do a deep dive on bmc.

2:36 I totally freaked out when you mentioned BMC lmao, I love bmc a little too much

Them marketing it as if it's just a reboot is doing more damage. People want to know why they're remaking a film that's not even 20 years old and they don't want to see it. I think if they made it clear that it's a musical, more people would be interested. I've actually been using Hairspray as my best comparison because that was also a movie that became a musical and then was adapted into a movie musical.

I'm such an original Mean Girls fan, and i'm a huge fan of Renee from SLOCG. I don't really know anything about the musical & havent heard any songs from it, but I am excited for this musical movie as someone who's a fan of musical movies like Hairspray and WSS. Alot of the comedy is like this newer Gen-Z referential stuff, but there's some of that in SLOCG too, where I think it works because of like the modern college setting, and I think it could work in this context too, (as opposed to where it doesn't work, like Zoey 102). I would love for their to be some newer original shows and movies besides all of these reboots. New shows/stories like Your Honor, Class of 07, Deadloch, Yellowjackets, are all so good and brings new stories and perspectives into the zeitgeist and I wish there was more focus on that as opposed to the constant remakes/reboots which all kinda just feel like soulless cash-grabs and a ghost of their original product

I blame Disney on this trend… LoL Tangled and Frozen were heavily marketed as seeming like non-musicals until they were proven to be a success. Even the marketing for Into the Woods (my mom had no idea it was a musical either 😅).

Big 🚩flags of it sounding bad and they’re scared of it being clowned for terrible music and singing

please make a video about the funny girl reboot if you haven't already !! i'd love to hear more :3

Thanks for making this video. I was just so so confused on why they would market this movie like this. Also this isn't the only movie doing this. Wonka and The Color Purple have no real displays to show that they are musical movies...Musicals are such a certain genera of film, acquired taste is a great way to described it. The way they truly went out of their way is so dumb.

the book felt like it had to hit certain points to make the fans happy...like there was a glen coco shoutout that did not feel natural and that pretty much encompasses the musical as a whole. it was a fun night because all of the obc was still there when I saw it and they had some good-themed cocktails but I don't think it'll do what they think it will. In terms of girl boss energy, it'll be a step up from the Camilla Cabello Cinderella

Kayla.... as someone who's roman empire is also Funny Girl revival on Broadway.... I would watch the shit out of it. Also I love your content and CANNOT get enough!

I think the issue I have is with the casting, here we out: The original movie and play were critical of the plastic, vain, "copy & paste" type of mean girl. Sure, in the world of high school politics, there exists many different types of mean girls. But the point is highlighting the shallow, empty, carbon copy mean girl that is obsessed with dressing and styling themselves to fit the mould. We've all encountered them, they are fake, mean, empty, blonde hair, Caucasian, thin. They represent a type of person. A person that is deeply flawed, and acts the way they do because of the image they exist within. The new cast doesn't fit that mould, it fits the mould of a "mean girl" but not "the" mean girl.

That opening is amazing

Saw Mean Girls live on tour, it was just alright imo. Not a bad time but the movie was just so much funnier and more fun. The musical just feels,,, safe.

The Color Purple is another movie musical based on a musical based on a movie based on a book. It will be out in a few months and fans of the movie seem pretty excited for it overall. But it’s also being promoted as an adaptation of the stage musical (a musical that has more public awareness than Mean Girls the musical since been around for much longer.) So I guess that’s why there hasn’t been any drama or confusion surrounding the movie to musical to movie musical direction.

❤️ u grrrl but get your facts straight! “Mean Girls” was extremely well-received on Broadway, was nominated for 11 Tony Awards & has been on a successful national tour since 2021. Renee Rapp was fine on B’way but she was a replacement…she’s the only “name” they have so they’re pushing her. Agreed, the marketing choices are very bizarre but this is a solid musical property.

Have you seen the latest Wonka trailer? Interestingly, they chose to go with no music this time. The director might not label it as a 'musical', but let's be real - it definitely has that vibe. On another note, I'm super excited for 'The Color Purple'! The trailer gave us a glimpse with the song 'I Am Here,' and it sounds amazing. In other news, Paramount decided to scrap 'Rise of the Pink Ladies', citing tax reasons. As for the 'Mean Girls Musical', it was initially set for streaming exclusively on Paramount+, but the overwhelming positive response has thankfully shifted it to a theatrical release. That's a relief for me, as I wasn't keen on subscribing to Paramount+ again!

Coincidentally Walmart just released a big commercial series that's sort of a sequel to Mean Girls with nearly all the original cast so all the more reason for this movie trailer to differentiate itself from that by highlighting the musical elements. I also find it baffling the teaser trailer (that came on in some showings of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour) that did highlight the songs isn't available online (besides people uploading recordings off their phones in the theater). The marketing is real dropping the ball!! As someone who loves the movie and was pretty meh about the musical, I'm still rooting hard for the new movie

I knew about the musical, and I was so confused by how the trailer had no music!

i love mean girls and im very excited for this musical tbh, even though i dont watch many of those

4:38 About this: I went to the Eras Tour movie with my sisters last month, and a teaser for the film played and we got ONE snippet of Regina singing “My name is Regina Geooooorge”. That’s the only thing we have.

In the first teaser (I saw it in front of eras and then it seems to have been scrubbed) that they took down in like a minute, they had the start of world burn/regina’s part of meet the plastics and it sounded so good and I’m sad in the new one they don’t have it

As someone who is a musical fan, I saw this and was like ugh another reboot. Didnt even realize it was the musical. They literally almost alienated someone (me) from watching it because of the trailer.

That was the way the Sweeney Todd movie adaption was marketed! I was in high school back then and every single person I knew that went to see it had no idea it was a musical before they were in the cinema 😂

I can't wait for this to be on Paramount+

It also happened with Matilda recently (book to movie to musical to movie musical) but I think mean girls is too beloved that anything else will just be forgotten. I imagine people will still watch but it’s not going to have any impact a second time round, just maybe get a brief mention when people talk about the overuse of popular franchises (or rather, something popular then overused to become a franchise)

The trailer has MULTIPLE shots of people singing and dancing plus the title has a musical note in it. The only way anyone can think this is not a musical is by not watching the trailer

I rewatched Mean Girls the original movie a couple weeks ago for the first time in years and I was surprised by how many times I laughed outloud - it stood the test of time for me. Sure, it had a few lines that wouldn't appear in a 2023 movie, but compared to its early 2000s peers, it was pretty mild.

I was initially excited to see Busy Phillips play the new Regina George’s mom bc she played Kim Kelly in Freaks and Geeks and she’s my fav on-screen mean girl. Then my friend told me that he saw an early screening and that it’s actually a really good film and just as good as the first Mean Girls film. He also mentioned that the music is actually good, so idk if they tweaked the music for this version of the musical but I trust him, so let’s see

I genuinely think that this adaption is going to be so much better than the musical. The costumes (while different from the original) are surprisingly a step up from the musical and the cast list seems really promising besides a few i'm not sure about. The musical seemed to have trouble finding what style or era it wanted to mimic, it came off as adults trying to write gen z and it turning out incredibly cringey. The costumes, jokes, and overall vibe just didn't feel like anything that would happen in a modern mean girls, where as this movie seems much more contemporary and I get a clearer idea of what they're going for. I think it benefits from being on a screen, mean girls just feels like it belongs as a movie, not on a stage. Also, I heard that some songs are being removed or added which is good because hopefully they'll take some weaker ones out. (please get rid of the house party song). I'm actually excited for this, because even if it's not great, it's going to probably be better than the musical.

calling her sarah zee is erasure of canadian culture but otherwise banger of a video

When me and my friends watched the trailer, my bestie said it looked like a musical and i was like no way those are just cinematic shots they arent dance numbers ✋ and then he went through and pointed out each scene until i was finally convinced it was a musical and i was just like why would they not advertise that its a musical 😭 because at first we just thought it was a regular remake and we were hating on it because its way too soon to do a regular remake of mean girls

Musicals have always been an obsession and a comfort for me but I will say, having cats be the last musical media I consumed before the panini definitely made me wary of everything that's come out since

I feel like I’m more into the musical then I am the Movie so I’m really excited😭

ok, but the FIRST actual trailer of it, HAD regina singing in it with a small bit of Cady singing too. It was also played in theaters. This is technically a second trailer that youre talking about. Also i think quite a lot of people were aware of the musical. when it went on tour, it sold out pretty quickly in most cities it stopped at.

I have never seen Mean Girls. I know literally nothing of the plot. I also know nothing about the musical. But I love musicals so I'm here.

im so sad theyre not marketing it as a musical, especially as a big lover of the broadway show (my school is also doing it in the spring). i can't help but think this will be a bad and unfaithful adaptation, yet i am still excited? im mostly confused about like whats going on with the casting, especially because with many of the ads it doesnt seem like theyre basing it off of the musical but rather like the next generation of mean girls (???) im so lost lmao

I did the musical last year in high school and when the news and trailer dropped the cast was just like "aint no way"

The trailer frustrated me, not because they played an Olivia Rodrigo song over it instead of one of the songs from the musical, but because they played "Get Him Back" instead of "Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl". Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl the perfect song to describe Cady. If they were going to not play a song from the musical, they could've at least played that. Talk about a missed opportunity. 🤦‍♀ They were so close yet so far...

Great video.

Okay. Here's the thing. I love musicals. Literally all of my top 5 favorite movies are musicals. I also love Mean Girls. I am a 33 year old woman, I've loved Mean Girls for the majority of my life and remember seeing it in theaters. I say all this because....NOT EVEN I WANT THIS. I hate this. I can't tell you how much I don't want this.

i always thought the mean girls musical was popular but maybe it’s because i got so many targeted ads for it during that time

when I first saw the trailer, I didn't even realize it was a musical, just thought it was a remake of the Og movie.

They’re doing the same thing with the color purple. The amount of times I’ve had to tell people the new movie is not a remake but based on the musical 😅

My school’s currently doing this show, and so are some others in my city- so yeah, it’s being licensed out to quite a few schools. Crazy, I hadn’t seen it until like a month ago (I’m working on a different project atm).

you can definitely do movie to musical to movie musical well, og Hairspray wasn't a musical for example. Personally the Mean Girls musical is watchable with a couple of high highs and some really low lows, added a couple songs to my playlist but not something I needed a full movie for. Honestly my favourite part of the musical is the quick change transition from halloween to school in the middle of the song Revenge Party, and there's no reason to do that in a film so eh. Never saw Cats 2019 so Dear Evan Hansen was the downfall for me, they cut out all the best songs!! and Evan's inner dialogue represented by Connor! It's not a great story but the songs are pretty good and it makes me cry even watching a bootleg.

I used to think I was a musical fan, but . . . I recognized Angourie Rice as Cady but not Rene Rapp as Regina George. The only song from the musical that really sticks with me is "Sexy". There were several other songs I liked a lot from the show, and I came here to say "AHA!" . . . but they turned out to be from Heathers.