A Dirty Dancing sequel is in the works with original cast member Jennifer Grey involved. Released in 1987, the film directed by Emilie Ardolino featured Grey as the young, naive woman Frances “Baby” Houseman who falls in love with dance instructor, Patrick Swayze’s Johnny Castle, during a summer holiday at a resort. Earning over $214 million against a production budget of only $5 million, it was a massive hit for the studio, and now they want to revisit the property by making a direct follow-up.
Lionsgate has made previous attempts to capitalize on the movie’s popularity, first through releasing a prequel/reimagining of Dirty Dancing via 2004’s Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. The follow-up had a similar plot to the original movie but was set in Cuba during the Cuban Revolution. The 1980s movie was also adapted to a stage play, not to mention a made-for-TV remake by ABC in 2017. However, this is the first time that an original cast member is going to be involved.
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The news was confirmed by Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer during today’s earnings call (via Deadline) for the company. Directed by Jonathan Levine and Gillian Bohrer with the screenplay written by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis, Grey is set to not only star, but also serve as an executive producer for the Dirty Dancing follow-up. “It will be exactly the kind of romantic, nostalgic movie that the franchise’s fans have been waiting for and that have made it the biggest-selling library title in the Company’s history,” the studio executive said.
To say that Lionsgate’s new project has big shoes to fill would be an understatement. Aside from Dirty Dancing being a blockbuster hit, it was also award-winning with “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” by Frank Previte, John DeNicola, and Donald Markowitz winning Best Original Song both at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes. The film itself was also nominated in the comedy/musical category at the Globes, with acting nods for cast members Swayze and Grey. More than those, however, the film is a beloved cult classic with a lot of iconic moments – some of which have continued to be mimicked and referenced in many other media forms.
Dirty Dancing follows Paramount’s Top Gun as a popular ’80s films that is being revisited. The Tom Cruise-led blockbuster will finally get a proper sequel with Top Gun: Maverick set to release next summer. Like the aviation-focused follow-up, the new Dirty Dancing movie will also only star half of its core primary couple – with Swayze passing in 2009 at only 57. That said, it will be trickier for the in-development project to work around the absence of Johnny considering how prominent and significant he is in the first film. In any case, fans would be more open to a sequel with Grey’s involvement rather than a project that does not have her in it. Now, whether or not it will be worth it to revisit an otherwise beloved franchise is another question that will only be answered once the new film arrives.
Source: Deadline