Footloose Review Thread (Use Spoiler Tags)

[WyldeMan45]

This is necessary why?

Paramount Pictures is eyeing a June 18, 2010 release for the Kenny Ortega-directed Footloose remake, to which Zac Efron was attached before dropping out a couple of months ago. No new lead actor has been announced yet. The new version will feature new songs that will complement some of the memorable original tunes from the film that made Kevin Bacon a star.

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[Rblu-Dblu]

Hopefully everyone else will drop off the film too and it will never get made.

[Galactus]

Why are they remaking this??? Kevin Bacon needs to kickoff his sunday shoes up the guys ass that gave this the greenlight

[connect42]

Originally Posted by WyldeMan45

This is necessary why?



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These types of remakes never really bother me, because even though they will never be as good as the original, they don't really hurt anything. No movie is "necessary".

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by connect42

These types of remakes never really bother me, because even though they will never be as good as the original, they don't really hurt anything. No movie is "necessary".

True. But you have to understand that some people really get protective of films that they love. I personally don't want them to remake this, but who knows, it could turn out great.

I would also hate to hear of a Goonies remake in the works, but again, who knows, they could make it really good.

[connect42]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

True. But you have to understand that some people really get protective of films that they love. I personally don't want them to remake this, but who knows, it could turn out great.

I would also hate to hear of a Goonies remake in the works, but again, who knows, they could make it really good.

Don't get me wrong, I love Footloose. I REALLY want a Blu-ray release instead of a remake. However, a remake (even a bad one) just doesn't do any harm. I actually think a crappy remake just puts more positive attention on the original.

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by connect42

Don't get me wrong, I love Footloose. I REALLY want a Blu-ray release instead of a remake. However, a remake (even a bad one) just doesn't do any harm. I actually think a crappy remake just puts more positive attention on the original.

Yeah I see what you're saying. Well if they're shooting for a 2010 release for the new one, hopefully we get Footloose on blu before then!

[WyldeMan45]

And the strangeness just keeps on comin.........

Is Thomas Dekker FOOTLOOSE and Fancy Free?

After Zac Efron and Chace Crawford signed on for and then subsequently dropped out of the forthcoming remake of the dance flick Footloose, the nostalgia piece has been in need of a rhythmic star. Paramount may have just found one in Thomas Dekker. The 22-year-old Dekker has been building a name for himself with series stints on Heroes and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and recently starred in the Nightmare on Elm Street remake. Plus, good buzz surrounds his role in the Cannes film Kaboom, so Dekker has merited consideration for the lead role of Ren McCormack.

In the 1984 original, it was a young Kevin Bacon who played Ren, a “dance-happy outsider who shakes up a small town” [24 Frames]. Like his HSM star, director Kenny Ortega boarded then departed the remake over the last year, while Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow) took over the reins. Paramount just announced a casting call for Footloose with intent to shoot this summer, suggesting casting notices will soon be official.

[WyldeMan45]

Yet again, further casting shakeup. An entirely new cast is now attached and with a new unknown set to star.

Craig Brewer’s Footloose Cast Has Come Together! Kenny Wormwald, Julianne Hough and Dennis Quaid

After repeated false starts, it looks like Paramount’s Footloose remake is finally ready to kick off its Sunday shoes. The studio has announced [via press release] the leading cast members of the upcoming musical. After a nationwide search, newcomer Kenny Wormald will play the lead role of “Ren”, a young man who’s trying to bring dance and rock music to a small town that’s banned those demonic temptations. Zac Efron was originally set to star but dropped out; he was followed by Chace Crawford, who also later dropped out along with director Kenny Ortega. Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow) then stepped in to direct and pen a new script. Ren was played in the 1984 film by Kevin Bacon.

Wormald will be joined by Julianne Hough as female lead and love-interest “Ariel”, Dennis Quaid will play antagonist “Reverend Moore”, and Ren’s friend “Willard” will be played by Miles Teller. As we previously reported, Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow) will direct. Hit the jump to check out the press release. Footloose is slated to hit theaters on April 1, 2011.

Here’s the press release we received from Paramount:

HOLLYWOOD, CA (June 22, 2010) – Adam Goodman, President of Paramount Pictures Film Group, announced today the completion of principle casting on writer / director Craig Brewer’s “Footloose”. Following an extensive worldwide search, newcomer Kenny Wormald will play the highly coveted role of ‘Ren’, opposite previously announced star Julianne Hough as ‘Ariel’. Dennis Quaid also joins the cast in the role of ‘Reverend Moore’, along with Miles Teller as ‘Willard’.

Craig Zadan, who also served as a producer on the original film, joins his longtime creative partner Neil Meron (“Chicago”) and producers Brad Weston and Dylan Sellers (“Agent Cody Banks”) on the remake. OscarÒ winning songwriter Dean Pitchford, who wrote the screenplay and songs for the original movie, will executive produce. Brewer (“Hustle And Flow,” “Black Snake Moan”) will shoot from a script he adapted from Pitchford’s original.

Julianne Hough will make her feature film debut in “Burlesque” in November, opposite Christina Aguilera and Cher, which will also coincide with the release of the two-time “Dancing With the Stars” champion’s second country album. She will co-star alongside newcomer Wormald, who appeared in the MTV series “Dancelife”, and most recently toured with Justin Timberlake. The film will mark the first major U.S. feature film role for the Boston native.

Actor Dennis Quaid, known for his starring roles in countless hit movies including “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “Traffic,” and most notably for his Golden Globe and SAG nominated role in the acclaimed movie “Far From Heaven”, also joins the cast. The actor most recently starred in the critically praised HBO movie “The Special Relationship”.

Miles Teller, who will next appear in John Cameron Mitchell’s “The Rabbit Hole” starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart, will also appear in the film.

The movie will feature choreography from Jamal Sims, who recently worked with Madonna on her Sticky & Sweet Tour. Sims has choreographed countless movies and videos, and will next choreograph the Neil Patrick Harris’ production of the award-winning musical Rent starring Nicole Scherzinger and Vanessa Hudgens, from August 6-8 at the Hollywood Bowl.

“I saw ‘Footloose’ in my hometown theater when I was 13-years-old and it rocked my world. It was a teenage rebellion movie that explored the struggles of faith and family in a small town, and it had an awesome soundtrack. I can promise ‘Footloose’ fans that I will be true to the spirit of the original film. But I still gotta put my own Southern grit into it and kick it into 2011,” said Brewer. “It’s going to be a blast!”

“When we discovered Kevin Bacon in 1984, we were both excited and gratified – and also knew the chances of ever duplicating that effort was a million to one shot. Decades later Kenny Wormald proved history could repeat itself,” said Zadan. “We’ve wanted to work with Brewer ever since we saw ‘Hustle & Flow.’ His fresh and contemporary vision will bring ‘Footloose’ to a whole new generation of moviegoers when the movie opens in 2011.”

[Rblu-Dblu]

Does kicking it to 2011 = the kids are going to be hip hop dancing?

[WyldeMan45]

Originally Posted by Rblu-Dblu

Does kicking it to 2011 = the kids are going to be hip hop dancing?

Exactly what I thought of. You know it ain't gonna be about rock or pop anymore. It's gonna show kids crumping, grinding and c-walking to "express their country roots" not to mention it's Craig Brewer so of course it's all about rap and hip hop.

[JLant19]

Footloose is one of my all-time favorite films and I just hope they do not butcher/high school musically screw this up.

[WyldeMan45]

Originally Posted by JLant19

Footloose is one of my all-time favorite films and I just hope they do not butcher/high school musically screw this up.

The lead doesn't exactly scream leading man, and while Hough is gorgeous and can definitely dance, it'll be interesting to see if she has any talent. I too am a huge fan of the original, my ex made me watch that movie like 40 times and eventually I grew to love it. But this cast doesn't exactly scream awesome to me. Dennis Quaid hasn't made a good movie in what 15 years?

[Moviefan2k4]

Well, I just saw the trailer for this a few minutes ago, and while it could be interesting, things could very easily (and quickly) go incredibly wrong. I was a "moderate fan" of the original film, but never became obsessed with it. Kenny Loggins' title track is still awesome after 27 years, so I'm hoping they place it center stage at the end (it features briefly in the trailer).

My main criticism of the trailer was how "sleazy" things seemed. I know the story's about rebellion, fear, and expression, but my first impression of the choreography was not a good one. Julianne Hough is definitely attractive, but this "new" version of Ariel seems less "troubled teen" and more "brazen and defiant". I did like the brief scenes with Ren and his family, and Dennis Quaid seems like a good choice for Rev. Moore. My final choice will largely depend on the final trailer, but at the moment, its not very encouraging.

[WyldeMan45]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

Well, I just saw the trailer for this a few minutes ago, and while it could be interesting, things could very easily (and quickly) go incredibly wrong. I was a "moderate fan" of the original film, but never became obsessed with it. Kenny Loggins' title track is still awesome after 27 years, so I'm hoping they place it center stage at the end (it features briefly in the trailer).

My main criticism of the trailer was how "sleazy" things seemed. I know the story's about rebellion, fear, and expression, but my first impression of the choreography was not a good one. Julianne Hough is definitely attractive, but this "new" version of Ariel seems less "troubled teen" and more "brazen and defiant". I did like the brief scenes with Ren and his family, and Dennis Quaid seems like a good choice for Rev. Moore. My final choice will largely depend on the final trailer, but at the moment, its not very encouraging.

I saw the trailer a few weeks back, and they sure did trash this one up. In the original you saw no real point to how the adults didn't want the teenagers dancing, but in this it's straight up freak dancing, and the girls are grinding away. I'm no prude by any means, but I could see why the parents might not want their teens to be publicly grinding away at the local fast food joint, lol. It was all hip hop and freaking, so this movie went exactly where I figured it would.

And what is the deal with the EXACT same clothing? Everybody drives the same vehicles and wears exactly what the originals did. I mean Ren still drives the yellow beetle and shows up at school in a leather jacket with a skinny tie? Willard is still wearing his white straw stetson and learning to dance. The only real difference I saw besides the dancing was now the chicken race is with buses instead of tractors. They didn't even really try to make this it's own entity Brewer just carbon copied nearly everything else and changed only the music and dancing.

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by WyldeMan45

In the original, you saw no real point to how the adults didn't want the teenagers dancing...

Well, from what I remember, the baseline story was very similar. Apparently, one of Rev. Moore's other kids died in the fateful car crash prior to the film's main events, so for him it was a very personal issue. It seemed like his worries were two-fold; he saw how Ariel was behaving, and was scared she'd end up with a terrible fate...but as the town's "de facto" leader, he also felt responsible for the moral and spiritual well-being of everyone under his authority. He was afraid of the younger generation getting too excited, because he believed it would lead to disruption, and eventually disaster. His intentions seemed good in the beginning, but his fear led him to take things way too far.

They didn't even really try to make this it's own entity; Brewer just carbon copied nearly everything else, and changed only the music and dancing.

From what I read, Brewer worked from his own adaptation of Dean Pitchford's original script for the 1984 film, so it makes sense he'd want to keep a lot of references intact. By the same reasoning, you can be very sure lots of folks would start protesting if certain elements weren't included. As for myself, MTV's involvement in the remake serves as a huge warning sign, but for right now, I'm sticking with a "time will tell" attitude.

Also, you may want to change this thread title, Wyldeman, since Thomas Dekker obviously left this project a LONG time ago.

[WyldeMan45]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

Well, from what I remember, the baseline story was very similar. Apparently, one of Rev. Moore's other kids died in the fateful car crash prior to the film's main events, so for him it was a very personal issue. It seemed like his worries were two-fold; he saw how Ariel was behaving, and was scared she'd end up with a terrible fate...but as the town's "de facto" leader, he also felt responsible for the moral and spiritual well-being of everyone under his authority. He was afraid of the younger generation getting too excited, because he believed it would lead to disruption, and eventually disaster. His intentions seemed good in the beginning, but his fear led him to take things way too far.

From what I read, Brewer worked from his own adaptation of Dean Pitchford's original script for the 1984 film, so it makes sense he'd want to keep a lot of references intact. By the same reasoning, you can be very sure lots of folks would start protesting if certain elements weren't included. As for myself, MTV's involvement in the remake serves as a huge warning sign, but for right now, I'm sticking with a "time will tell" attitude.

I believe I mentioned a long time ago in this thread that my ex-girlfriend was ridiculously obsessed with the original, so believe me I am very well versed in exactly what happened and what everybody wore, lol. I think I had to watch it probably 25 or 30 times with her. I never cared for why the Reverend did what did, or the reasons he claimed I just didn't agree from the start.

I noticed in the trailer they actually filmed Ariel's brother's crash just so they could have another action scene. Kind of like using two buses that crash together and explode. We gotta have the action scenes!!!

This is definitely a movie I will never see, because I've already seen it many many times, and with much better actors and way better music.

[Gamma_Winstead]

Yeah, it looks awful.

[Samus Aran]

The hip 21st century twist is that he's actually an undercover FBI agent infiltrating the town's cult.

[WyldeMan45]

Originally Posted by Samus Aran

The hip 21st century twist is that he's actually an undercover FBI agent infiltrating the town's cult.

Oh snap!! "Now that this 16 year old is done grinding on me, I should announce that I am an F...B...I....AGENT! I'm also 29 years old"