Author Who Inspired ‘Mean Girls’ Says Tina Fey Owes Her More Money
The creator whose e book impressed “Mean Girls” is talking out as manufacturing on a brand new iteration of the era-defining coming-of-age comedy will get underway.
Speaking to the New York Post, Rosalind Wiseman stated she is contemplating taking authorized motion towards Tina Fey and Paramount Studios for what she says is her justifiable share of the cash generated by the continued success of “Mean Girls,” which is customized from her 2002 e book “Queen Bees and Wannabes.”
Wiseman stated she was paid simply over $400,000 for the film rights to her e book, which Fey used as the premise for the “Mean Girls” screenplay. Though her contract reportedly included internet income, or additional money from the film’s success on the field workplace, she claims she hasn’t seen the extra compensation to which she believes she’s entitled.
“For so long I was so quiet about it, so, so quiet, but I just feel like the hypocrisy is too much,” she stated. “I think it’s fair for me to be able to get compensated in some way for the work that has changed our culture and changed the zeitgeist.”
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She went on to notice: “Over the years Tina’s spoken so eloquently about women supporting other women, but it’s gotten increasingly clear to me that, in my own personal experience, that’s not going to be the experience. You don’t just talk about supporting women, you actually do it.”
Echoing these sentiments was Wiseman’s lawyer, Ryan Keech, who instructed the Post that his shopper has been handled “shabbily” by Fey and Paramount Pictures, which distributed “Mean Girls.”
“It is nothing short of shameful for a company with the resources of Paramount to go to the lengths to which it has gone to deny Ms. Wiseman what she is fairly entitled to for having created what has become one of the most iconic entertainment franchises of the last 25 years,” he stated.
Representatives for Fey and Paramount didn’t instantly reply to HuffPost’s requests for remark.
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Released in 2004, “Mean Girls” was a important and industrial hit, grossing a reported $130 million on the field workplace worldwide. It stays a breakout second for stars Lacey Chabert, Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried, every of whom has continued to get pleasure from main success in tv and movie.
In 2018, a musical adaptation of the film opened on Broadway, that includes an up to date script by Fey and songs by Fey’s husband, Jeff Richmond, and Nell Benjamin. Once once more, it was successful with critics and audiences, receiving 12 Tony Award nominations ― however Wiseman stated she remained ignored within the chilly.
“What’s hard is that they used my name in the Playbill,” she stated. “And Tina, in her interviews, said I was the inspiration and the source, but there was no payment.”
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Wiseman’s claims come as Paramount is firming up plans to adapt the musical as a film. Though particulars of the undertaking are scarce, the movie will star Reneé Rapp and Angourie Rice, with Fey and Tim Meadows set to reprise their respective roles as Ms. Norbury and Mr. Duvall from the 2004 film.
Reportedly absent from the brand new movie, nonetheless, would be the actors who performed the now-iconic “Plastics” quartet within the unique. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight final month, Seyfried famous she was “still hoping for a miracle” with regard to creating an look.
“It’s not really up to us, is it?” she stated. “All four of us are 100% into it.”