The Stars Of The Original “Mean Girls” Were Reportedly Supposed To Appear In The Upcoming Movie Musical, But Talks Have Stalled Over Money

2004 was a much easier time to be a passive-aggressive, petty person: you could wail, “YOU CAN’T SIT WITH US!” or “she doesn’t even go here!” at anyone you didn’t feel like messing with. Everyone would just laugh and laugh and just pretend you were innocently quoting Mean Girls while swallowing the fact that all involved knew deep down you probably actually didn’t feel like fucking with that person. Paramount+ is currently working on a Mean Girls musical movie based on the Broadway musical that was based on the original movie that was based on a book. Since we’ve hit that point in the availability of new ideas, maybe the old Mean Girls standards will regain life anew. However, original stars Rachel McAdams, Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, and Lacey Chabert were slated to be in the film, but contract talks are allegedly at a standstill because of Paramount+’s “disrespectfully” low-money offer.

The movie musical version of Mean Girls will star Angourie Rice (Cady Heron), Renee Rapp (Regina George), Avantika (Karen Smith), Bebe Wood (Gretchen Wieners), Auli’i Cravalho (Janis Ian), Jaquel Spivey (Damian Hubbard) and Christopher Briney (Aaron Samuels). Page Six says that Tina Fey has signed on to appear in her original role, but Rachel, Lindsay, Amanda, and Lacey, who’ve remained in touch over the years, agreed to appear in new roles. However, since Paramount+ is being tighter than Regina George’s pants after a month of Kälteen bars, they might not appear at all.

Tina Fey, who wrote both the movie and musical, is reprising her role as math teacher Ms. Norbury. She reportedly has a seven-figure deal for her acting role — she’s also writing and producing the movie — while Lohan & Co. were said to be offered a “fraction” of that.

“Paramount Pictures doesn’t want to pay the girls what they are worth,” said a highly placed production source. “All four girls were willing to come back, but Paramount has not been respectful of what they are worth.”

We’re told that McAdams, 44, who played queen bee Regina George, was initially offered a larger part to play than the other three, but the deal has not been signed off.

“As of now, the negotiations are stalled.” said the source.

Tina talked about the project on Late Night With Seth Meyers last week and also shared that Tim Meadows will reprise his role as Principal Duvall:

It wasn’t revealed who Lindsay, Rachel, Lacey, and Amanda would be playing, but apparently the offer was so low for actresses who’ve had successful long-spanning careers that even if they were just playing the janitors tasked with sanitizing the projector room after Shane Oman and Regina were done with it, it would still be too low. Have the execs not seen Lindsay’s breakthrough performance in Falling For Christmas? Er, actually, hopefully they haven’t.

The foursome would not play their original characters, nor is it known what parts they would play, but another Hollywood insider said: “Whether they appear in a cameo appearance or they have six pages of script, it doesn’t matter — [the money offered] is disrespectful.”

Lohan, 36, has recently made a return to Hollywood, with the top-rated Netflix holiday movie, “Falling For Christmas”, while Seyfried recently scooped a Golden Globe and an Emmy for her role as disgraced tech CEO Elizabeth Holmes in the Hulu miniseries “The Dropout.” She’s also up for a SAG award this weekend for the role.

Chabert, meanwhile, has been dubbed the Queen of Hallmark for her frequent movie roles on the channel, and McAdams has appeared in a string of box office hits and, most recently, in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” alongside Benedict Cumberbatch.

What the hell, Paramount+? Did you overpay original Janis Ian Lizzy Caplan for the Fatal Attraction remake no one asked for? Give the original Plastics what they deserve, because if the contract negotiations continue for too long and this movie isn’t in the can and ready for release on the forever immortalized date of October 3rd, they should consider the whole project a failure!

Pic: YouTube