Lacey Chabert Negotiating ‘Mean Girls’ Return: Report

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Actress Lacey Chabert

Lacey Chabert and her castmates from the legendary 2004 film Mean Girls have been in talks to appear in a film version of the hit Broadway musical Mean Girls. according to page six. The Hallmark Channel star has been vocal about wanting to be involved in either a ‘Mean Girls’ reboot or a cameo in the upcoming film.

But on Feb. 22, 2023, Page Six reported that negotiations had stalled due to disagreements over how much Chabert and her co-stars — Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, and Rachel McAdams — should be paid. Here’s what you need to know:

Original ‘Mean Stars’ co-stars are reportedly upset with payments being offered for updated film

GettyLindsay Lohan, Lacey Chabert and Amanda Seyfried at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards

“Mean Girls” was a smash hit when it hit theaters in 2004, grossing $129 million worldwide on a budget of $17 million. according to Us Weekly. The script called for Chabert’s character, Gretchen Wieners, to repeatedly try to popularize her line, “That’s so awesome” among her high school clique — but the movie was so popular that the line actually became a cultural phenomenon. Chabert said Jimmy Fallon in November 2022 that she hears fans saying “every day of my life”.

In fact, her friend and Hallmark colleague Jonathan Bennett, who starred in Mean Girls as Aaron Samuels, gave the film a subtle nod in his latest Hallmark flick, The Holiday Sitter, when his character uttered the iconic phrase.

Tina Fey, who was the original film’s head writer and served as the girls’ teacher, was part of a team of creatives who turned the film into a musical that noisy bustle, opened on Broadway in April 2018, six months after a tryout in Washington, DC and was nominated for 11 Tony Awards. The show ended in March 2020 with the outbreak of the pandemic.

In December 2022, appointment reported that Fey and Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels would helm a film version of the musical for the Paramount+ streaming platform. The four main characters are played by Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey.

February 16, Fey revealed on ‘Late Night With Seth Myers’ that she will reprise her role as Ms. Norbury and comedian Tim Meadows will return as Principal Duval. Days later, Page Six reported that all four of the original “Mean Girls” actresses had also agreed to star in the new film, but that negotiations had stalled.

The outlet said a “senior production source” told her that “Paramount Pictures doesn’t want to pay the girls what they’re worth. All four girls were willing to come back, but Paramount didn’t respect their worth.”

Page Six said Fey secured a “seven-figure deal” for her acting role, in addition to writing and producing the film, but Chabert, Lohan, Seyfried and Adams were offered a “fraction” of it. Chabert, Seyfried, and Adams had very successful acting careers, and Lohan recently returned to acting with the rom-com Falling For Christmas in November 2022, which happened quickly became Netflix’s top movie.

Paramount Pictures and the film’s producers have not responded to Page Six’s requests for comment. production on film, according to The Hollywood Reporter, scheduled to begin March 6th.

Lacey Chabert & Jonathan Bennett became good friends and made “Mean Girls”

GettyAmanda Seyfried, Jonathan Bennett and Lacey Chabert attend a screening of “Mean Girls” in April 2004

It’s not clear if Bennett was asked to make a cameo in the upcoming film, but he has said he would love the opportunity to revisit the film’s characters. In December, he said to Salon that he’s forever grateful to be cast as Lohan’s love interest in the original Mean Girls.

“I owe my whole life, my whole career (to film),” he said. “Everything I am today I owe to Tina Fey, Lorne Michaels and Lindsay Lohan.”

He continued, “It’s not a normal movie. It’s part of people’s lives. They speak it, they speak it, and they party for it. They dress up like this for Halloween. The lines in ‘Mean Girls’ have become part of people’s everyday vocabulary.”

In 2018, Bennett published a tongue-in-cheek cookbook, “The Burn Cookbook: An Unofficial, Unauthorized Cookbook for Mean Girl Fans” because, he told Salon, he wanted to “celebrate and pay my homage to all the fans that make us who we are.”

One of the best results of his role in the film is his 20-year friendship with Chabert, with whom he appeared at Christmas Con in December.

If asked Fox News What it was like to have a little ‘Mean Girls’ reunion with her on stage, he said: “It’s not really a little ‘Mean Girls’ reunion because we see each other every day. So this is just a Tuesday for us.”