Caffeinated Clint
Travolta convinces original cast to stay away from it
In an interview with TV Guide, “Grease” star Didi ‘Frenchy’ Conn says although there were plans for a “Grease 3”, all the scripts sucked – and now, both Travolta and Newton-John have walked.
“We’ve been planning one for years, and I’ve had meetings with writers, but they just don’t get the innocence of Grease”, says the bubbly actress. “The scripts are not right — they’re sad, and everybody’s a loser. I don’t think John is interested anymore, and he’s convinced Olivia not to do it. The feelings of John, Olivia and Stockard [Channing] are to let those characters be. I even read one script that had John’s character dead. It was such a downer. That’s not Grease — Grease is always an upper!”.
Both Travolta and Newton-John were quite excited at the prospect of doing a sequel to their 70s hit, at one stage.
Newton-John told The Age newspaper a few years back that “they’ve (the film studio) signed a production deal with a production company and now they’re working on a storyline because I’ve been getting emails back and forth about ideas for the storyline. ‘There’s no cast members signed on that except John and I, that I know of at the moment, and probably Didi Conn who (plays) Frenchy.”
Her enthusiasm for the project only increased over time.
She later said, “They’re working on it. They’re getting a writer, so we’ll see what happens from here,” she’s quoted as saying in late 2003. “But it seems to be pretty serious. They want to do it.” But what about Travolta? “He’s up for it if it’s the right thing,” she adds.
Its believed that both Travolta and Newton-John insisted that original crooners, The Bee Gees, be involved in the music again, and original director Randal Kleiser helm the film, if they were to officially sign on to the pic.
A couple of other ideas that were floated around for a “Grease 3” include centering the action on the daughter – rumoured to be played by Kylie Minogue, at one stage – of Danny & Sandy, as well as redoing the first film with Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake in the lead roles. Groan.
Travolta’s initial response – in the early 90s – when asked about “Grease 3” is probably spot-on. The actor, who also recently nixed plans for a “General’s Daughter” sequel, funnily enough, told Blackfilm.com that “They talked about Grease 3. I have no idea what that would be like. Little kids think Grease was made yesterday so why bother with a sequel. My publicist’s niece called and said, ‘There’s a movie called Grease and it’s on DVD and I’d like you to buy it for me.’ She thought it was made last year. Maybe you leave that alone and do something different.”
