'Mean Girls' Musical Movie Trailer Confuses the Internet

Paramount has released the first trailer for the Mean Girls musical movie, but the footage has left users across social media baffled.

Fans who are aware that the movie is an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical (itself inspired by the 2004 Mean Girls film starring Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams) were quick to call out the marketing for attempting to "hide" that the fact the film was a musical.

"Why are they hiding the fact that the Mean Girls movie is a film adaptation of the musical?! Isn't that the selling point?" one user on X, formerly known as Twitter, pointed out.

"Not sure why they're advertising the Mean Girls movie as a shot by shot remake of the original because that's what that trailer is. It's a musical and no one is singing," another X user noted.

Even fans who were more positive about the adaptation still questioned the lack of musical elements in the trailer, with one X user writing: "Love the look of this, I'm a big fan of the musical so can't wait but why would you release the trailer for the musical version of #MeanGirls and not have any of the songs or even hint that it's a musical? This looks like a straight reboot?"

Newsweek reached out to Paramount via email for comment.

Shared across the official Mean Girls social media channels, the trailer has been viewed millions of times. On X it was captioned with no mention of the film's musical aspects: "Get in loser, we're going to the movies. Watch the new trailer for #MeanGirls – only in theatres on January 12. #OnWednesdaysWeWearPink."

The stage musical premiered in Washington, D.C in 2017, enjoying a run in New York on Broadway from 2018 until 2020, before embarking upon U.S. tours in 2019 and again in 2023-2024. The show will debut in London's West End next year.

The trailer sees two of Mean Girls' original cast members reprising their film roles — Tina Fey (who co-wrote the movie and its Broadway offshoot) as Ms. Norbury, and Tim Meadows as Principal Duvall — while also featuring a number of scenes that look like near shot-for-shot recreations of the 2004 movie, leading some fans to believe the film is simply a remake with a mostly new cast.

"How can it be that im [sic] old enough for there to be a REMAKE of Mean Girls coming out ... and that this isn't a sequel. truly don't understand," one fan wrote on X.

"Sorry but there has never been LESS need for a remake than Mean Girls," another wrote.

"The fact that Hollywood almost always seems to get it completely wrong... we asked for a SEQUEL to Mean Girls, not a remake!" added another X user.

Musical theater fans were quick to point out the project's Broadway roots, noting that Reneé Rapp, who plays Regina George in the movie adaption, also played the role on stage, while Ashley Park, who can be seen as a teacher in the trailer, also originated the role of Gretchen Wieners in the stage production.

"You can tell that a lot of y'all were completely unaware that the Mean Girls Broadway musical already existed and Reneé Rapp already plays Regina George in it," one wrote on X.

"So confused why everyone is hating on the new mean girls movie cause as an old theater kid i'm so excited for renee rapp to play regina again," wrote a fan of the musical.

Another chimed in: "The casual viewer is gonna be SO shocked when they go to the mean girls remake and all the characters start SINGING."

The Mean Girls musical movie is set to be released on January 12, 2024.