Travolta, Olivia Sought for 'Grease 3'

By Stephen M. Silverman

Monday May 05, 2003 01:00 AM EDT

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Call it "Son of Grease." Or would that be "Grandson"?

Paramount Pictures has announced that it is planning "Grease 3," a sequel to the sequel of the original 1978 monster hit starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, says the Hollywood Reporter.

The setting of the new picture is to be the late-'70s, allowing for the use of plenty of disco music. (The Travolta-Newton-John original was set in the '50s, with plenty of white-bread rock and show tunes taken from the Broadway "Grease").

The story of the new movie will involve the children of Travolta and Newton-John's characters (Danny and Sandy), and both Travolta, now 49, and Newton-John, 54, have been informed that their services will be sought for "Grease 3," says the trade paper.

"Grease 2" in 1982 proved a major flop, with a lot of the blame pinned on its two stars, Maxwell Caulfield and a then-newcomer named Michelle Pfeiffer, because movie audiences wanted to see Travolta and Newton-John.

Didi Conn, 51, the actress who played beauty-school dropout Frenchy in the 1978 original and in the 1982 sequel, is serving as an executive producer of the new version.

She is said to have been instrumental in getting "Grease 3" off the ground last fall at a studio party for the DVD release of "Grease" -- at which Travolta and Newton-John reportedly wowed the crowd with their rockin' rendition of "You're The One That I Want."