One prime candidate for the
informal title of the “ultimate chick flick” is 1987’s “Dirty Dancing,”
starring Jennifer Grey and the late Patrick Swayze as a privileged girl and a
working-class dance instructor who meet and fall in love over intimate/”dirty”
dance styles at a 1960s lake resort. With the theme song “(I’ve Had) The Time
of My Life” and featuring great dance choreography (one word: lift), the film
was a sleeper hit that inspired a stage adaptation, dance tours, and a 2004
prequel. But current rights holder Lionsgate is interested in seeing a “Dirty
Dancing” sequel done. Now that prospect has become a possibility.
According to CNN, the plans are in place to see a real follow-up to “Dirty
Dancing” from Lionsgate Films. This was revealed by the studio CEO Jon
Feltheimer from a company earnings call last weekThursday, August 7. He does
remark that the sequel development is a badly-kept Hollywood secret, describing
the proposed movie as “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." What makes this
different from the now-forgotten sequel “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights,” also
from Lionsgate, is the involvement of a key original star.
That would be Jennifer Grey, who
was one of the leads from the original “Dirty Dancing” portraying Frances
Houseman, aka Baby. Sadly, her costar actor Patrick Swayze had passed away from
pancreatic cancer in 2009 at age 57. Nevertheless, not only is Grey up for
returning in the sequel and reprising her famous role, she is also one of the
project’s executive producers. Other production names involved are Mikki
Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis for the movie screenplay, as well as Jonathan
Levine and Gillian Bohrer.
“Dirty Dancing” was produced by
the Great American Films Limited Partnership under Vestron Pictures. From its
$5 million budget the movie would make $218 million at the box office, though
it ultimately would not save Vestron from bankruptcy in 1991. Lionsgate gained
the Vestron film library from its prior owners Artisan Entertainment in 2003,
leading to their “Havana Nights” prequel, which recycled the plot with a rich
American girl and a resort waiter with dance skills in Cuba a year before the 1959
Cuban Revolution. The “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” song performed by Bill Medley
and Jennifer Warnes also won Best Original Song at the 1987 Academy Awards and 1988
Golden Globes.
Image courtesy of ABC News
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