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Sunday
25Oct2009

Director Kenny Ortega Bows Out of 'Footloose'

DateSunday, October 25, 2009 at 10:36PM
The remake of Footloose has hit another snag. First, Zac Efron decided he didn't want to be everyone's perception of Zac Efron any longer, and now director Kenny Ortega (also of High School Musical) has walked away from the project. Chace Crawford had replaced Efron in the lead role, and now Paramount will have to find a new director before moving forward.

At issue, according to Variety, was the "tone and budget." I would think Paramount wants a less squeaky clean version of the 1984 story, and I would think Ortega would want a bigger budget. Through a spokesman, though, those things never came up from Ortega, who commented, "Coming off the extraordinary project, Michael Jackson's This is It, director Kenny Ortega has decided it is premature for him to commit to his next film and will not be moving forward with Footloose as previously reported."

There could be merit in that statement, too, since This Is It was not originally planned to come out this fall. Plus, if you're Ortega, you can negotiate a better price for anything after the movie comes out. So rather than being a director-for-hire on Footloose, you can call your own shot the next time out. It's no surprise, then, that he chose to walk.

The film almost has to go into production in March, fitting around Crawford's Gossip Girl schedule. Even if that holds up, how on Earth did Paramount expect this to be in theaters on June 18th? Is it going to be shot in ten-minute chunks?

That's a lot of choreography to get right in three months. So something has to give here: Either the film will do some production prior to March (and there's still Julianna Hough's schedule to juggle, as well as the rest of the cast and crew if they did move it forward to accomodate a new director) or June just won't happen. Seems like a good time to bring up that old chestnut of picking a release date for a movie before it gets made. What do they call that? The tail wagging the dog?

Paramount is clearly bound and determined to make this movie, so it won't be killed off by this news. But it could hibernate for a few months.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment1 Comment |

Reader Comments (1)

I honestly thought that this would've been a smart idea (from a marketing standpoint- as a filmgoer, this sounds like the worst idea since Daddy Day Care 2: Daddy Day Camp).

But without the Ortega/Efron combo, I'm more wary of the prospects. Not that it would've been a good film, but team the director of the "High School Musical" films with his biggest star & you've got yourself a hit.

Here's what's going through my mind. Is Chase Crawford really that big a draw? Is the brand name big enough? We all just saw "Fame" crash and burn about a month ago (apparently it's coming to the discount theater here near my apartment in a week- ouch!), who says that this one will be much better?

Also, why am I dedicating this much thought and effort to this bit of news about an unnecessary remake to a lame film?

Sunday, October 25, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterVince

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