Let's start off with a little bit of trivia: Did you know that High School Musical and its sequels have had the working titles Grease 3, Grease 4, and Grease 5? That would make it seem as though Zac Efron and his super-cute co-stars were some new generation possibly bred from the loins of Sandy and Danny. Not quite. It's got the whole differing social group angle, and how friends can get in the way of love, but it's definitely not that dirty, classic family movie we all know.

As a tot, I liked Grease, but I loved Grease 2 -- this is probably because Maxwell Caulfield was much easier on the eyes than John Travolta. But after watching the original a few times and devouring the second much more often, there was a long hiatus until a close cousin of mine got a little older and Grease got re-released in theaters. I took her to see it, and my jaw sagged through the entire film. How dirty! How could I not have realized this? I looked over at her; she was smiling, happy, and oblivious, so obviously the "don't-see-the-raunchiness" spell was working all these years later. It skillfully rides that fine line between raunch and respectability.

So, in the sea of a new musicals, equipped with myriads of fangirls, I give you my generation's High School Musicals: Grease and Grease 2.

Sometimes news is better than anything our twisted minds could ever cook up. Not only has moviemaker rationale completely left the universe, but Michelle Pfeiffer's sanity has gone with it, if a recent article from News.com.au is to be believed. She says that she has been approached about an upcoming remake of the epically dirty, kid-friendly classic, Grease, and I quote: "It's a great idea and I hear they would like to get Jessica Simpson for the role of Sandy, she would be good." Oh, God. Where do I start?! This might just be a sign that the apocalypse is coming.

Okay. Let me start with the hideous part of this news: Simpson would be good? Simpson is being looked at for SANDY? Now, no matter how much I am not into her as an actress, and how wary I am of musical remakes (my response to Footloose exemplifies that), who in their right mind would cast someone who can't even get her features released? And in a starring role of a remake of a beloved musical? Has no one heard about Blonde Ambition? This seriously can't be true. If they wanted to remake Grease 2, and put Rob Schneider in the role Johnny Nogerelli, I could see it -- Zmed, Schneider... I can dig it in a goofy sort of way. But man, I'd love to hear what Olivia Newton-John says about all of this.

Now onto Pfeiffer. She says that she wants to play Principal McGee: "She is fun and has some great put-down lines. I think I would like the part now that I have been asked." However, cut into my cheese-loving heart, she detests her role in Grease 2: "I hated that film with a vengeance and could not believe how bad it was. At the time I was young and didn't know any better... I hear it's a cult movie now." Yeah, Michelle, it is. It's even one of the reasons Brian Herzlinger loves Drew Barrymore. Anyway, why rant about one and then want to be in a remake of the other? But even that doesn't matter as much as how and why she'd think Simpson would be good in this.

I must stop ranting about this now, as I could go on for pages and no one wants that. But let's have some fun first. We've got Simpson as Sandy, so what other terrible casting choices could they make to really make this potential remake even more laughable?

[via Cinema Blend]

Kim confessed last week that Grease is one of her guilty pleasures; many of you chimed in to agree with her in the comments (though I didn't comment I, too, am right there with you). So far, though, no one has dared confess their affection for Grease 2, possibly the worst sequel of all time. Granted, Maxwell Caulfield is hot, in an 80s sort of way, and it's always fun to see Michelle Pfeiffer singing about the seasons. But, really, most of the pleasure the movie offers comes from laughing at it, which is rarely a good sign.

There's a completely bizarre rumor floating around today that Paramount, instead of leaving well enough alone, is actually thinking about remaking the movie. (Which, you know, is sort of diverting -- at least instead of remaking a classic and pissing everyone off, this would be another version of a bad movie to which very few people can claim any true attachment.) Do you think they're embarrassed? And after 20+ years, want to correct all of Grease 2's wrong? It's impossible to know how seriously the studio might actually be thinking about this (or, indeed, if they're thinking about it at all), but the story from Sky News claims that "they're going to add some new songs, spice up the cast, and get a stronger script." Man alive. Hollywood, friends, is a very odd place.

Let me just get this right out of the way: I'm not a big fan of this whole Hairspray thing. Yeah, I saw the movie back in the day and listened to all the praise pouring out of the Broadway show, however it doesn't do it for me one bit. So, now you can understand me when I say that I am so not looking forward to another movie version. Oh, you didn't hear they were making another Hairspray? Or maybe you just forgot already?

Well, they are making another movie version and this one will star John Travolta, Billy Crystal and Queen Latifah. I don't think I've seen such an awkwardly put together cast since, well, ever. Now, reports are coming in that this already confusing cast may be adding another random actress to it in Michelle Pheiffer.

But Michelle may not be so random after all. You may remember a certain Michelle Pfeiffer leading the pack in a certain Grease 2? The same Grease 2 that had a Grease 1 come before it and star none other than a certain John Travolta? No word yet on who the actress will play, but if it all goes down, Hairspray redux could produce the ultimate reunion...that no one asked for. Or wanted.