Classic "Dirty Dancing" film to get Hollywood remake

Janina Elkin and Daniel Rakasz, both main actors in the musical 'Dirty Dancing - Das Original Live On Stage', sign a book of condolences for U.S. actor Patrick Swayze in Berlin, September 15, 2009. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz

Janina Elkin and Daniel Rakasz, both main actors in the musical 'Dirty Dancing - Das Original Live On Stage', sign a book of condolences for U.S. actor Patrick Swayze in Berlin, September 15, 2009.

Credit: Reuters/Tobias Schwarz

LOS ANGELES | Tue Aug 9, 2011 4:32pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The classic 1987 film "Dirty Dancing" is getting a remake, adding songs from the 1960s and brand new compositions to some of the original music, film studio Lionsgate said on Monday.

The beloved coming of age movie, starring the late Patrick Swayze as smoldering dance teacher Johnny Castle in a forbidden romance with teenager Jennifer Grey as Frances "Baby" Houseman, will be modernized for a new generation, producers said.

Kenny Ortega, the film's original choreographer and the director of the Michael Jackson concert movie "This Is It" and "High School Musical", will direct the new version which has not yet been cast.

"Amazingly it has been almost 25 years since the original film was released, but the fans remain legion, and engaged more than ever with a brand that is special and vital to them. We believe that the timing couldn't be better to modernize this story on the big screen, and we are proud to have Kenny Ortega at the helm," Lionsgate film group president Joe Drake said in a statement.

Swayze died in 2009 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 57. Grey hit the headlines again in 2010 when she won the TV show "Dancing With the Stars".

"Dirty Dancing" won Oscars for best music and best original song for its emotional closing number "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", and has sold more than 10 millions units on DVD, as well as inspiring a hit stage show in London and six other countries.

A "Dirty Dancing" Facebook page has more than 10 million fans, cementing the 1987 movie's status as one of the most beloved movies of modern times.

"Dirty Dancing" is the latest iconic dance film to be revisited. A much-delayed remake of the 1984 film "Footloose" starring newcomer Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough is due to arrive in movie theaters in October, while an updated version of the 1980 musical "Fame" was a critical flop in 2009.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
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Comments (3)
sophiewonderful wrote:
We all know what remakes are like and they aren’t pretty. If we take “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and “War of the Worlds” as examples, what more needs to be said?

Aug 09, 2011 4:50pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
sophiewonderful wrote:
It was mindless garbage back then…it will be even more mindless now. Silly, silly, silly. Jennifer Grey is the daughter of Joel…she never had dance lessons…puhleeze. Classic? Classic? Are we comparing this now to “The Odyssey” or “Citizen Kane”? If we are no wonder there is so much dumbing down in America…ugh. Give me the Bette Davis movies any time. They may be glorified soap operas (which I abhor on t.v. and in literature), but they top the trash most people watch.

Aug 09, 2011 4:55pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
sophiewonderful wrote:
PS: Why don’t we add that garbage “Ghost” while we are at it? Maybe I am an elitist but some of the tastes people have must be in their mouths.

Aug 09, 2011 4:57pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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