Today I have big and exclusive news on a number of fronts for the dedicated reader of The Bug.

First, I can confirm that Australian auteur Baz Luhrmann is about to secretly begin filming a remake of the hit 1970s musical Grease which should be wrapped and ready for release by the end of the year to make it eligible for Oscars glory in 2023.

Fans of the original will be pleased to know that Baz had brought together the original cast members from the 1978 US-made movie to reprise their roles.

Sadly, the recent death of Olivia Newton-John means Baz has needed to do some rapid recasting.

But, being the professional that he is, he has managed to fill the late Livvie’s role very rapidly and from an unexpected quarter.

I can reveal that former Morrison Government minister and now opposition frontbencher Michaela Cash (at left in main picture) will star in the Grease remake alongside original stars John Travolta as her love interest Danny Zuko (centre in picture) and Hollywood and Broadway veteran Stockard Channing as Betty Rizzo (at right).

Baz tells me that he was devastated, as we all were, at Olivia’s passing but realised “the show must go on”.

He was determined that the remake would stay true to a major element of the original – that the character of Sandy Olsson should remain an Australian student studying in the US at Rydell High School.

Baz tells me that Michaela Cash in screen tests has fitted the bill perfectly, although he does plan to dub a lot of her singing parts after experiencing several breakages in sensitive sound equipment and camera lenses on set during those tapings.

My second bit of big news is also about a remake.

This time I can tell our reader that the old TV game show I’ve Got a Secret is being revived and will star former prime minister Scott Morrison as its permanent guest.

The show, originally made at the Channel 9 studios in Brisbane by legendary TV producer Reg Grundy in the 1960s and 70s, was itself a copy of a US concept involving a panel of celebrities who have to guess the secret held by a special guest.

Global entertainment group Fremantle Media, which bought out the Grundy Organisation a decade before Reg’s death in 2016 is already well into planning for its revival.

A Fremantle spokesperson told me the idea for remaking IGAS has “success written all over it” and that Scott Morrison would feature heavily in what is planned as an initial 26-episode run of 30-minute shows.

“The time is right to remake the show,” the spokesperson said.

“This time around we will be able to lower the cost per episode by having Scotty as a guest with a secret for every one of the 26 episodes in the initial series.

“We figure he’s so good at telling lies with a straight face and he obviously has so many lies to tell that he should be able to bamboozle the panel members episode after episode without it become boring.”

The Fremantle spokesperson said the company was close to inking a contract with Mr Morrison whose only remaining quibble with the draft deal offered to him is that he wants God to be mentioned in the show’s end credits as a consultant of his.