Cast of Mean Girls musical movie confirm which numbers feature in the film

The cast for the Mean Girls musical movie has been spilling the beans on which numbers have successfully made it from stage to screen!

The new flick – which is based on the Broadway show, which is based on the cult classic movie, which is based on a novel – will be released in the UK on 17 January 2024.

Angourie Rice (Spiderman: Far From Home) will play Cady, with Auli’i Cravalho (Moana in Moana) as Janice, and Jaquel Spivey (leading star in A Strange Loop on Broadway) as Damian. Returning from the original film will be Tina Fey (Ms Norbury) and Tim Meadows (Principal Duval).

Renée Rapp, who played the role of Regina George on Broadway, will now play the role on screen. Joining them are Avantika (Senior Year) as Karen, with Bebe Wood (Love, Victor) as Gretchen – rounding out the famous trio of “Plastics”.

Also cast is Christopher Briney (The Summer I Turned Pretty), playing love interest Aaron, alongside Jenna Fischer (The Office), set to play Cady’s Mom Mrs Heron, while Busy Philips (White Chicks) will play Regina’s Mom Mrs George.

The cast have been discussing the project as their press junket begins, ahead of the piece’s January release. This comes against the backdrop of the film teasing its new movie album (released in early January), with around 12 tracks being present on the new recording, compared to 21 on the cast recording – implying a fair few numbers are missing.

In fact, Briney has confirmed he won’t be singing in the movie, which already suggests numbers involving Aaron have either been cut or adapted.

For UK fans of the show who may want to see all its stage numbers in full, the production will have its opening in June 2024 at the Savoy Theatre, with tickets on sale now.

From the interviews thus far, numbers that have been confirmed as recorded (though not necessarily included in the final cut, mind) include “A Cautionary Tale” (performed by Cravalho and Spivey, whose narration acts as the framing device for the feature), as well as “World Burn”, “Rather Be Me” (with Cravalho apparently “sprinting” throughout the number), “What’s Wrong With Me”, “Someone Gets Hurt [Reprise]”, “Stars”, “Sexy”, “Revenge Party” (which is set to be presented as a major, eight-minute sequence that was filmed over many days across different weeks).

There will also be a new number replacing “It Roars”, penned by Rapp, with composer Jeff Richmond saying that the film’s flavour was all about “changing the palette from Broadway to radio.”

Fey also mentioned in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that the team had to convince Paramount Pictures that a new film would be a good idea, emphasising the difference in form and tone. Rice understood that, ultimately, there will be a lot of Broadway enthusiasts keenly anticipating the film’s take: “Musical theatre fans are so dedicated and passionate – in a way that is frightening – I am a huge musicals fan myself, so I know there’s a big responsibility.”

Also involved is Ashley Park (Emily in Paris) and Jon Hamm (Mad Men). Directorial team Arturo Perez Jr and Samantha Jayne are the new movie’s directors. Mean Girls marks the pair’s first full-length feature, though they’ve done a whole wad of exciting material across the film, music video and television space, including the much-lauded Quarter Life Poetry.

The film is overseen by producers Paramount Players alongside Lorne Michaels and Fey. Fey has penned the script, with music by Jeff Richmond and lyrics by Nell Benjamin. Kyle Hanagami choreographs.