Although it may not have pulled in as much moolah as many had been expecting, the success of Disney’s High School Musical 3: Senior Year in dominating the US box office at the weekend has already had a knock-on effect.
Namely, that Paramount has fast-tracked its remake of Footloose, for HSM’s Zac Efron to star and Kenny Ortega to direct.
The duo have been attached to the remake of the Kevin Bacon cult classic for over a year now, but after Senior Year pulled in $43 million over the weekend, it’s been moved up the starting grid, with a view to beginning production next Spring.
A new writer – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist director, Peter Sollett – has been brought on board to rewrite the existing Jon Hartmere script, which will tell the tale of a young man (Efron) who defies his puritanical superiors in a small American town through the power of… dance.
But this won’t be as kid-friendly as the High School Musical franchise, which has made Efron a star. The new Footloose will be aimed at a slightly older audience – a clear sign that Efron is keen to break out as an adult star (not that kind of adult star, you dirty-minded gets).
But, just to show the power he currently wields, Efron’s deal for the movie will be somewhere in the seven-figure region, and will give him script approval.
Oh, and while we can expect to hear an updated version of Kenny Loggins’ allegedly classic theme song, there will be a host of new tunes in Ortega’s remake. We’re not sure if this will be a bona fide musical, or merely a film that happens to have a lot of dance numbers, but either way, our nieces are queuing already.