The Footloose remake that’s been bouncing around over at Paramount is moving forward again. This time Craig Brewer’s in charge.
You probably don’t know who Craig Brewer is. If you did, then odds are he wouldn’t be stuck directing Footloose, he’d be making more incredible, original movies like Black Snake Moan or Hustle & Flow. But you didn’t show up to see those and if you want to make it in Hollywood these days, you’ve pretty much got to do a remake, don’t you? At least that’s how I’ve decided to rationalize this move in my head.
Variety says Brewer, who also wrote the script, will move quickly and start casting the movie right away. At one point Zac Efron was supposed to be involved, but he’s out. Then Chace Crawford was supposed to be the new Kevin Bacon, but he’s out too, leaving them starting pretty much from scratch.
If you’ve seen the original Footloose then you know there are two key roles to worry about. All the talk and rumor-mongering is sure to be focused around who they’ll find to replace Kevin Bacon as the movie’s rebellious lead who gets kids to dance in spite of persecution from religious zealots, but finding someone to step into the great John Lithgow’s shoes is just as important. Lithgow played Reverend Shaw Moore, the religious figure responsible for riling the town up to keep their kids from having any fun.
Though I’d rather have Brewer coming up with another brilliantly original film, there’s no denying he’s perfect for the project. His previous two movies were steeped in music and dance and rhythm. He’s the perfect choice for a movie about kids fighting for the right to rock out.
