First it was a movie — an iconic chick flick from 2004. Then, in 2018, it became a Broadway musical, which had an interrupted run with the beginning of the pandemic. Now, “Mean Girls” will be officially adapted into a movie musical. A bit confusing, I know. 

With all of the buzz surrounding “Mean Girls,” the rumored movie musical and reappearing cast from either the musical or the original film, a lot has come out about the upcoming Paramount+ feature.

“Mean Girls” musical stars are set to return to the franchise in the musical movie. Reneé Rapp, who played Regina George, and Ashley Park, who played Gretchen Wieners in the original Broadway musical’s run will be in the film. 

There are also a lot of big names that are going to be featured in the screen adaptation. Auli’i Cravalho (“Moana”) as Janis Ian, Jenna Fischer (“The Office”) as Cady’s mom and Christopher Briney (“The Summer I Turned Pretty”) as Aaron Samuels. 

It has been speculated since the movie musical was announced that the original cast of the 2004 movie would likely make an appearance in the musical’s screen adaptation. Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert and Rachel McAdams “would love to make a cameo,” according to Seyfried. 

“I’m still hoping for a miracle. It’s not really up to us. Is it?” Seyfried said. “All four of us are in, 100% into it.” 

Unfortunately, this may not happen after all. There has apparently been a dispute between the four OG “Mean Girls” stars and Paramount over pay. 

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

Stalled talk over pay is definitely not ‘fetch’ for the Paramount film. It seems to be pretty up in the air over whether the original cast will be featured in the musical film or not.

In terms of casting news, there has been a new cast member added to the musical. Busy Phillips has joined the cast of the Paramount film to play Mrs. George — Regina’s mom. Angourie Rice will also be joining the cast to play the role of Cady Heron.

Tina Fey will be producing the film with Paramount, along with Lorne Michaels. Arturo Perez and Samantha Jayne will also be directing the film.

“I’m very excited to bring ‘Mean Girls’ back to the big screen,” Fey said to US Magazine. “It’s been incredibly gratifying to see how much the movie and the musical have meant to audiences. I’ve spent 16 years with these characters now. They are my Marvel universe, and I love them dearly.”

Production of the film started on March 6 of this year. There is no news on a release date yet, but it will premiere on Paramount+, as well as in theaters.