Caffeinated Clint
If only because the stench from the ill-fated prequel (“Dirty Dancing : Havana Nights”) has just about passed, a remake of the original “Dirty Dancing” has been lifted into the air to have the time of it’s life (that could be the crappiest opening line I’ve ever typed).
Rather than even trying to compete with the classic 1987 original, producers of the new “Dirty Dancing” have settled their sights on the telly. The three episode mini-series, produced by rights holder Lions Gate, will film in Nicholas Sparks-ville, North Carolina.
Jessica Sharzer (“American Horror Story”) wrote the new version, which is a co-prod between Allison Shearmur productions and ABC.
The new one films in the same terrain as the Patrick Swayze-Jennifer Grey one did, so local residents are pretty excited for it – if only so it pumps some cash back into the town.
“I think it’ll boost business, give us good revenue and a lot of exposure,” said Leigh Vayo, with Events at the Lake Lure Inn & Spa, to WLOS. “We’re nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains, right on the lake, in such a beautiful spot. Hopefully it will bring some people our way who don’t know about us.”
Lionsgate has been flirting with a remake of the chit film for forever and a day, at one stage hiring Kenny Ortega – the choreographer of the original – to direct a bigscreen redo. Shearmur was also onboard that incarnation.
The “Dirty Dancing” mini-series isn’t the first time Baby and Johnny have graced the TV, a small-screen spin-off of the original film hit the box – briefly – in the late ’80s.
The original “Dirty Dancing” spun a couple of then-unknowns into mega-stars, but it also resulted in a hit soundtrack – one that featured classic songs like this :
