Paramount dips back into Grease

Hoping Grease lightning can strike a third time, Paramount Pictures is drawing up plans for Grease 3, a continuation of the hit musical franchise. The plan is to set the new project in the late '70s, feature plenty of disco music, and have the story revolve around the children of the original characters. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, stars of the 1978 original--which was directed by out filmmaker Randal Kleiser--have already been given a heads-up that their services will be sought once a script is completed. A search for writers is under way. Didi Conn, who played Frenchie in the first two Grease films, is serving as an executive producer. She is said to have been instrumental in generating the studio's current enthusiasm for putting together a new installment of the film. At the studio's DVD release party for Grease in the fall, sources said Conn approached Paramount chief Sherry Lansing after Travolta and Newton-John wowed partygoers with the musical number "You're the One That I Want." The original Grease spawned a sequel four years later, Grease 2. Its failure was ascribed by some observers to the introduction of a new cast of characters, headed by Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer. In developing Grease 3, the producers hope to avoid that problem by bringing back the old gang from the first installment while also introducing new characters.