It was nearly 40 years ago when the movie Grease first hit our screens and ever since it has served as a classic for many generations. It's not that far-fetched to say that Grease is one of those movies which is beloved by everyone who watches it. It doesn't matter where you’re from or how old you are. Everyone knows at least one Grease song off by heart.
With the anniversary fast approaching, people are gearing up to celebrate the film all over again. Let’s look at the different ways people are celebrating and the impact the film has had over the past four decades.
The Impact of Grease
Grease has been one of the biggest movies of all time. It has made over $387,513,770 in box office sales and a whopping $25,968,490 in video sales. With numbers this huge, it's clear that this movie has had an incredible impact around the world.
One of the most well-known Grease spin-offs is the less successful Grease 2, released in 1982. It scored only 33% on Rotten Tomatoes and was seen as a flop when it first came out. But while it is still nowhere near as popular as the original, it has become somewhat of a cult classic with younger generations. As with most popular movies, Grease also inspired online games which have also been a hit such as the Grease slot machine on Betfair. There was also a Grease video game released for the Nintendo Wii which featured scenes from the film and sing-a-long songs in slightly terrifying CGI.
Grease has inspired so much merchandise and spin-offs, some more successful than others, but the sheer fact that so much of this stuff exists is down to the fact that it was a movie which made an impact on people’s lives and on Hollywood as a whole, with more people than ever before embracing musicals because of it.
Celebrating the Anniversary
Now that the anniversary is near, Grease is being celebrated in a whole new way. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, AKA Danny and Sandy, have marked the occasion with a mini-reunion at a special screening of Grease in Beverly Hills. The pair were also joined by fellow Grease co-stars Didi Conn, who played Frenchie, Barry Pearl, who played Doody, and Randal Kleiser, the director.
Another celebration of Grease is Nordstrom’s latest release of Grease themed clothing. They partnered with Paramount Pictures to design a 12 piece set of women’s clothes which pay homage to the 1978 classic. These pieces include the Frenchie Plaid Capri pants and ‘Greased’ leather jacket. For fans of the film, they could be the perfect way to commemorate it 40 years later, but they also make great style pieces to add to your everyday wardrobe.
Will You Be Re-Watching?
Even 40 years later, Grease is still a hit film that many of us still keep coming back to. We love to sing our hearts out and mouth along to our favourite scenes. With the anniversary coming up, it’s time for fans to get together and re-watch it all over again. Will you be re-watching to celebrate too?