Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Kick Off Those Sunday Shoes

The news that a remake of the popular 1984 film, Footloose, is headed to the big screen, should come as no surprise to anyone...Turning said remake into a full blown musical is also no shock--given that the original flick was itself, adapted for the Broadway stage...




Michael Fleming of Variety:

Paramount is plotting a musical remake of the 1984 film "Footloose" and will develop it for "High School Musical" star Zac Efron [pictured) and director Kenny Ortega. Dylan Sellers will produce.

Ortega is in negotiations to helm and choreograph, and Efron is in talks to play Ren McCormack, the rebellious newcomer (originally played by Kevin Bacon) in a town where dancing has been banned.

Original was directed by Herb Ross and scripted by Dean Pitchford.

Plan is to turn the project into a full-blown musical. "Footloose" was already turned into a Broadway tuner.

The 19-year-old Efron made his breakthrough with the Ortega-directed Disney Channel teletuner "High School Musical" and just completed an Ortega-directed sequel with the original cast; a third installment is in the planning stages.

Efron makes his feature debut in "Hairspray.," which New Line releases Friday [July 20th].

The original film helped to turn Philly native Kevin Bacon into a household name. I remember 2 of my older sisters dragging me to see this during its original release--and finding that I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. And who could forget the Footloose Soundtrack

I'm not really into musicals. But Efron makes a good fit to fill Bacon's shoes. Right now he is a big draw for many of the female teens across the country...

In other news: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (reviews) opens in theaters today--ready to cast another magic spell on the box office. Will the wizardry of 'Potter be enough to keep the Transformers from holding on to the top spot in its second week?...

And Kevin Spacey is confirmed for the Superman sequel--The Man of Steel. Interestingly the article has MOS in line to start filming after The Mayor of Castro Street...Hmm Here's hoping Spacey's Lex Luthor will share more than 5 minutes of screen time with Supes (Brandon Routh) next time out...

No comments: