When originality fails, Hollywood turns to reboots, prequels and spin-offs of the tried and true. Here are the most intriguing new ones.

Why see a Grease prequel set in 1954? Because nobody’s told a long story inspired by the Pink Ladies, the real gang of girls who helped prompt the 1978 hit, and Assistant Principal McGee is played by Jackie Hoffman (Glass Onion; Only Murders in the Building), 62, a grump as funny as Eve Arden was as Principal McGee in 1978’s Grease.

In an auspicious American TV debut, Rachel Weisz, 53, star of The Favourite (2018), plays identical-twin gynecologists who share drugs, lovers and questionable ethics—but unlike Jeremy Irons’ creepy characters in the 1988 original by director David Cronenberg, they’re out to save women’s health care too.

Not just a repeat of 1987’s boiled-bunny tale, this show is about a guy (Joshua Jackson) cheating on his wife (Amanda Peet, 51) with leather-clad Alex (Lizzy Caplan, of Fleishman Is in Trouble), but she’s not depicted as a loathsome villain like Glenn Close’s 1987 Alex. “We’ve got lots of time to really dig more deeply into Alex’s backstory, her childhood, seeing things through her eyes,” Caplan says.

As fun as the 1963 flick, and the cast alone makes it a must-see: Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham as lascivious Lady Bellaston, Van Helsing’s Alun Armstrong, 76, as bibulous Squire Western, and Shirley Henderson (Topsy-Turvy), 57, as headstrong Aunt Western.

Preview audiences loved Melissa McCarthy, 52, as Ursula, the sea witch you wouldn’t want to mess with, in Disney’s live-action version of its 1989 animated musical. We’re eager to see Javier Bardem, 54, as Ursula’s nemesis, King Triton.

It’s divine! Suddenly there’s a slew of new productions on religious themes.

Roma Downey (Touched by an Angel) presents the real-life saga of Doug White (Dennis Quaid, 68), who saved his family by landing a plane after the pilot died. As his daughter Maggie said, “What could I do? Nothing. Just sit there and pray, and, you know, throw up.”

If you thought 1973’s fictional The Exorcist was scary, wait until you see this depiction of the real thing: Russell Crowe, 58, as Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican priest who said he cast out thousands of demons.

This show, about a nun (Betty Gilpin, of GLOW) who confronts an evil artificial intelligence algorithm, is widely predicted to be another supernaturally tinged hit from Damon Lindelof (Lost; The Leftovers). Margo Martindale (The Watcher), 71, plays her Mother Superior.

Author Judy Blume thinks this adaptation of her 1970 novel about a girl who prays for boobs (and also wonders if God exists) is better than her book. Kathy Bates (Titanic), 74, plays Margaret’s adoring grandma. And don’t miss the touching documentary Judy Blume Forever (on Prime Video April 21), in which Blume reads a young fan’s letter: “Please send me the facts of life in number order.”

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