At one point, this version of Footloose had High School Musical alum Zac Efron in the lead and High School Musical director Kenny Ortega at the helm. Efron opted out and Gossip Girls' Chace Crawford was tapped to play Ren. Crawford also left the project, which prompted a worldwide search for his replacement. Meanwhile, Ortega stepped down as director and was ultimately replaced by writer/director Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan).
Julianne Hough has been attached to the movie for a while now, and remains in place to play 'Ariel', Ren's love interest. Dennis Quaid and Miles Teller have just joined the cast, playing Ariel's father 'Reverend Moore' and 'Willard', respectively.
In a press release announcing the casting of Wormald, writer/director Brewer stated, "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. It's going to be a blast!"
Producer Craig Zadan, who also produced the original film, added, "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. 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."
In addition to Zadan, the film lists as producers Neil Meron, Brad Weston and Dylan Sellers. Dean Pitchford, who wrote the screenplay and songs for the first film, will executive produce. Jamal Sims is onboard as choreographer.
Footloose will hit theaters on April 1, 2011.
Source: Paramount Pictures
