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EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate has set Maria Maggenti to script the Dirty Dancing remake that has Kenny Ortega attached to direct. Ortega was the choreographer of the 1987 Emile Ardolino-helmed film about a pampered young girl who summers with her upscale family at an establishment in the Catskills and falls in love with the resident dance instructor. Because Lionsgate has fast-tracked the film and set a director, this was a job a lot of writers wanted. Maggenti got it after scripting Monte Carlo for Fox and New Regency. Since then, she scripted an adaptation of Before I Fall and is finishing up My Name Is Memory, also for Fox 2000 and New Regency. The writer’s repped by APA and Madhouse Entertainment.
Lionsgate is hoping to recapture some of the financial magic of the original, a sleeper hit that for its time was one of the most profitable independent films ever seen, costing $6 million and grossing $213.95 million worldwide. It was made by Vestron, which could not get its act together and mobilize a sequel before crapping out. Lionsgate released Artisan’s 2004 sequel, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, but didn’t make that film and has started from scratch and gone back to the original.
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Some movies should not be remade. This one is history, not a Terminator sequel that you want to squeeze another buck out of. I hope this fails miserably.
DO NOT DO A REMAKE OF THIS MOVIE!! LEAVE IT ALONE, KENNY!
I will not go to see the remake. As far as I’m concerned there is
only “One Baby” and there is only “One Johnny”. Remakes do not
always guarantee a success. It takes chemistry, good acting and a
great script. Give it a rest. Where are the writers today that can produce an original script. Why not give them a chance. These
movie studios pay millions upon millions for garbage.
Yet another remake – will it be in Kenny’s “High School Musical” or “This Is It” style.
Congrats on APA getting one of its clients on this project
Not to take anything away from Maria, who is super-talented and smart, but congrats on APA getting anyone anything.
Are there any original ideas in hollywood left or are we doomed to a future of remakes
CONGRATULATIONS TO MY FRIEND, MARIA!!! Another woman scoring a great deal!!!
GIRLFRIENDS UNITE!!!
It’s ripe for a remake.
Mischa Barton, Blake Lively or Leighton Meester as Frances Houseman
Shia LaBeouf, Penn Badgley or Chace Crawford as Johnny Castle
I’m telling you folks…..Stroker Ace…it’s not far behind!!!!
Because remakes make so much money….Fright Night, Conan the Barbarian, those were spectacular blockbusters weren’t they ?? I’m sure Footloose is going to be a monster success. The remakes need to stop.
Im not a fan of the movie, I have never seen it, but I am a fan of Patrick Swayze, the man is dead, at the very least they could leave his legacy intact. guess not.
C’mon, get in the business. Remakes have been a part of the business since the dawn of cinema. Besides, we’re not talking about the Godfather here…
That’s right: a PART of the business, not the WHOLE business, as it seems to be fast becoming.
Batman Begins was a reboot. This is a remake. I guess reboot makes this project sound justified. But it’s a souless remake. Plain and Simple. The people involved with this project have no respect towards the legacy of the original film and film in general.
Shame on Maria.
Of course, after helping co-write Monte Carlo (you know, that Selena Gomez hack project/corporate sanitized cash-grab), she obviously checked her pride at the door.
This movie is ripe for getting about 20% on Rotten Tomatoes and tanking at the BoxOffice.
Congrads to all the money-grubbers, I mean, producers involved!
It really does go without saying, but what a terrible idea.
EPIC FAIL
This will not turn out well.
Some films are a product of their time. Even the first film was set 30 years past.
It sold to a completely different market – a completely different society.
The idea of “dirty dancing” is not going to sell to a audience where “a hookup” means what it means and is no big deal to a 13 year old.
I certainly understand the idea that an “existing property” and “know title” lowers risk, but in this case the vast change in social dialog GREATLY offsets and risk mitigation the title might offer.
Guess nothing is sacred.
Should be dancing with the stars — Derek Hough…..
(Drops to knees, looks up at the sky and raises arms toward the heavens) “WHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYY?????!!!!”
Derek Hough starring in the new version of DIRTY DANCING? Absolutely!!! And thank you, Jake, for being a terrific casting director! Normally, I’m vehemently against re-makes, re-boots and recreations of beloved classic movies. But whether we like it or not, the project is a go so let’s try and look on the bright side. Since Ken Ortega was responsible for the dynamic choreography of the 1987 original, who would be more qualified to direct the updated original? Also, I read that the gifted novelist Eleanor Bergstein, who penned the original’s screenplay, will be one of the “Dirty Dancing” producers. So far, so good. But what really made the first film such a huge (and totally unexpected) “sleeper” hit was the combustible chemistry between its two virtually unknown stars, Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. Lightning could strike twice depending on the casting of the new “Dirty Dancing”. I can’t think of any young actor who could step into Swayze’s shoes than Derek Hough, the incredibly charismatic young (26) dancer/choreographer who, just when I thought movie musicals were dead, is the true star and multiple winner of TV’s “Dancing with the Stars”. In addition to his movie-star looks and engagingly self-effacing personality, Hough’s dancing combines the grace and elegance of Fred Astaire with the enthusiastic athleticism of Gene Kelly. And for anyone complaining that Hough is a relative unknown to moviegoers and won’t be able to “sell” the movie, I’d like to conclude with the following anecdote: Late in 1979, I was working on the Burbank lot as the unit publicist on one of producer Ray Stark’s ‘A’ movies. Simultaneously, his production company, Rastar, was dashing off a quickie entitled “Skatetown U.S.A.” to be rushed into theaters to cash in on the then rollerdisco craze. One day, Marykay Powell, one of Stark’s executives and a wonderful friend of mine, stopped me and said she wanted my opinion of an unknown actor who was getting his first break in a supporting role in the “Skatetown” film. We went into her office, she slipped a video into her VCR, and I watched transfixed a handsome 28-year-old guy perform an amazingly intricate dance number on rollerskates. I agreed with her that this unknown fellow had talent to burn and, if all went well, would one day be a major movie star. She had already taken him out to lunch and met his wife and said they were two of the nicest, modest, and most talented people she had ever met. I asked her what this young, unknown actor’s name was. She replied: Patrick Swayze.
Nice anecdote, Scott. I think it is possible to riff off of a great core story many, many times and it can be worthwhile, much like many singers can try to make a classic song their own. (Who could have predicted what Michelle Pfeiffer would do with “More Than You Know”?) You need the following: both skill and luck in your casting (in the end you can’t force chemistry, but you can improve your odds and then hope, hope, hope), you need to genuinely care about the elements (the characters, the emotions, the point) that the story is made of, you need to respect and care about your audience, and a bit of audacity and foolish courage put the icing on the cake! Let’s give them a chance.
Can we say Footloose and The Karate Kid? There is only one Kevin Bacon, one Ralph Maccio and there is only ONE Patrick Swayze. With today’s political correctness does anyone seriously think the abortion scene is going to make the cut?
Perhaps a new generation will find the story engaging, but those of us that grew up with this 80′s icon find this movie to be nothing short of sacrilege. Leave the decade in the past where it belongs. Let us all remember the good parts, and not have to snarl at the tv screen when they show the previews.