The director who brought Disney fans everywhere High School Musical movies, Kenny Ortega recently said farewell to the project FOOTLOOSE the remake because of disagreements with Paramount. Ortega wanted it to be a vibrant elaborate musical, brightly colored tale, while the studio wanted it to be more dramatic with less emphasis on the music, which I think doesn’t make sense, why the hell remake a FOOTLOOSE movie in the first place if it’s not going to be straight up musical?..
According to Hollywood Reporter, the director that the studio execs feel would deliver their agenda would be Craig Brewer. No confirmation or no deal is locked in yet but Brewer’s name is high on the list of names considered to helm the project.
Brewer is the director of Black Snake Moan which gave us Christina Ricci’s wild side and Hustle & Flow which garnered Terrence Howard his first Oscar nomination.
I don’t consider Hustle & Flow a musical movie but Hustle & Flow is exactly what Paramount wants for FOOTLOOSE.. it “had musical elements but a darker edge”
This cracks me up, if they’re going with Brewer’s style, better get ready for some hardcore R-rated FOOTLOOSE. I’m exaggerating of course but would Brewer even want to stoop down to this level?
Paramount is looking for a director and time is of the essence because production is still set to start in March 2010. They’ve got 2 lead stars, Chace Crawford (TV’s Gossip Girl) who got the role after Zac Efron turned it down and the female lead went to hottie Julianne Hough,.. mmm… she can make me dance anytime.
Sorry,.. where was I? Ah yes, this is the new take on the movie about a city boy comes to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned. Glad I didn’t grow up in that kind of town.
Here’s the synopsis of the original FOOTLOOSE..
“Classic tale of teen rebellion and repression features a delightful combination of dance choreography and realistic and touching performances. When teenager Ren (Kevin Bacon) and his family move from big-city Chicago to a small town in the West, he’s in for a real case of culture shock. Though he tries hard to fit in, the streetwise Ren can’t quite believe he’s living in a place where rock music and dancing are illegal. There is one small pleasure, however: Ariel (Lori Singer), a troubled but lovely blonde with a jealous boyfriend. and a Bible-thumping minister, who is responsible for keeping the town dance-free. Ren and his classmates want to do away with this ordinance, especially since the senior prom is around the corner, but only Ren has the courage to initiate a battle to abolish the outmoded ban and revitalize the spirit of the repressed townspeople.”
