Dirty Dancing does not need to be remade. Nobody on this planet has ever thought, "The original had way too much wasted potential!" and when it comes to capitalizing on the brand, you don't have to look any further than Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, which opened at #5 and only managed to make a dismal $27 million worldwide on a $25 million budget. Regardless, it was reported earlier this month that Kenny Ortega, director of the High School Musical movies, has signed on to helm the 21st century reboot. Now the project has a screenwriter as well, according to Deadline.
Maria Maggenti, whose previous work includes four episodes of Without A Trace and the recently released Monte Carlo, has been hired by Lionsgate to write the script for the new Dirty Dancing. In the 1987 film, a young girl (Jennifer Grey) goes with her upper-class family to a resort in the Catskills where she falls in love with the local dancing instructor (Patrick Swayze). Lionsgate has fast-tracked the project, which put it in high demand for writers, but it was Maggenti's Monte Carlo script that led to the studio choosing her as their writer. Ortega was the choreographer on the original film and this will be his first movie since the Michael Jackson documentary This is It in 2009.
You know what moment I can't wait for? When they announce that they will be doing a hip-hop/techno remix of Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes' "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" for the remake's finale.
