I still can’t believe HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3: SENIOR YEAR actually managed to take in $42 Million in its first opening weekend since it hit theaters this past Friday, unbelievable! I’d probably go into coma if I found out that HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 got nominated for Oscar.
The fact that it’s banking so much money, Paramount has decided that the poster boy Zac Efron has enough star power, at least to draw teen female audiences everywhere. According to Variety, Paramount is going to fast track the remake project FOOTLOOSE based on that 1984 movie of the same title.. I didn’t like it then and there’s a big chance I won’t like the remake either,.. no matter what way you wanna serve it to me, it’ll take more to make me convinced that this is a good idea. To me, Kevin Bacon’s best movie was Tremors.
The studio has brought on Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist director Peter Sollett to rewrite the Jon Hartmere script and hired Craig Zadan and Neil Meron to join Dylan Sellers as producer. Zadan and Meron worked together as producers for the movie version Hairspray which was Effron’s first movie gig… and obviously wasn’t his last.
Here’s the synopsis of the original movie.. 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.
The New FOOTLOSE Movie will aim for an older teen and adult demo, production will start next spring.
Just to give you a picture of how influential Efron has become now… for this project alone he will be paid a mid-seven-figure salary and they also give him script approval.
Are we looking at the next big movie star… or are most people still crossing fingers, hoping for the kid to fail?
Between Hannah Montana and High School Musical franchise, I don’t know which one I can’t stomach more.
* In celebration of this info, here’s a scene from FOOTLOOSE featuring Kevin Bacon doing his thing
