Who steps in for This Is It director Kenny Ortega on the remake of Footloose, starring some femmey dude from Gossip Girl and shooting early next year? Paramount would like it to be Craig Brewer.
Yes, the Craig Brewer who directed Black Snake Moan, the film that has Samuel L Jackson chaining a half-naked Christina Ricci to his radiator. See, Paramount wants to make Footloose an edgier drama, and they like how Brewer mixed the drama with the music in his terrific debut, Hustle & Flow.
This doesn’t mean that Brewer wants to do Footloose. Somehow I suspect this isn’t up his alley, but if Paramount were to really let him go, I think he could make one of those rare remakes that actually brings something new to the table. Brewer would bring the sexuality to the dancing that the saccharine original only hinted at, and I think he’d push right up against a PG-13 rating (which is what we must assume Paramount is going for). He’d also likely have a better soundtrack than High School Musical 1-3 director Ortega.
I doubt that Brewer will end up on the picture, but in a lot of ways it’s heartening – Paramount might be interested in making a real movie, not just something aimed at the So You Think You Can Dance crowd.