Get ready to have the time of your life all over again on July 26, 2013. That, according to a Tweet, is when Lionsgate plans to release its Dirty Dancing remake. You have until then to get Baby out of the corner.
How will it do? That depends. Craig Brewer treated the original Footloose, a similar pop-music-infused time-capsule treasure from the 1980s, with reverence, and was rewarded with nearly $40 million in domestic ticket sales. But Dancing’s success depends on so many factors, starting with director. Can you get a Kenny Ortega, or even a Brewer? Should you think outside of the box, like Paramount did with Footloose?
And who do you cast? Rumors swirled that Footloose star Kenny Wormald was circling the part of Johnny, made famous by the late Patrick Swayze. It’s a thankless job, as anyone who lands in the gig will be compared (unfavorably) to Swayze. But Wormald took the Bacon criticisms in stride, then proved to everyone he can act AND dance.
The next step will be securing the music. As Brewer repeatedly said, it isn’t Footloose without "Let’s Hear It For the Boy," and the same goes for Dancing. The story’s timeless, but you better have some version of "(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life" in there. Same goes for "She’s Like the Wind," though in a classy move, I vote they keep Swayze’s version as a tribute.
Whatever. Just so long as we don’t get a remake of Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights 10 years from now, I’m cool with all of this.
