The highly anticipated “Footloose” remake hits theaters Friday, bringing a modern twist on the classic 80’s film.
Both the original and the remake take place in a town where rock ‘n’ roll music and dancing are banned after a tragic accident.
A young man from a big city moves to town, shakes things up and changes everything, revitalizing the town and its people.
The new movie has some cultural and generational changes from the original to help people relate to the movie today, the way young people related to the original.
“There is a tremendous amount of love for the original, but there is also an urgency to [make] a movie that had the ideals of the original “Footloose;” one that has the energy of the original, and give it to a new generation that, I think, is in need of a ‘Footloose,” the new film’s director Craig Brewer said.
One thing movie goer’s don’t have to worry about is losing the heart of the movie or the connection they had to the original.
“You would be surprised how much of the script was actually [the same], like literally word for word,” Julianne Hough, the film’s lead actress, said.
Kenny Wormald plays the iconic role of Ren MacCormack and Hough plays Ariel Moore, both in their debut roles as leading actors.
It made a big difference for Hough who said that getting to work so closely with Brewer and having her input heard was really important for her as an actor and for her career.
Brewer went into making the film with the desire for unknown actors. When he saw the original film, Kevin Bacon was totally unknown and he became a sort-of hero for Brewer.
Brewer wants audience members going to see the remake to experience the same thing.
“There’s a wonderful sense of discovery when you sit in the audience and you go, “who’s she?” or “who’s he?” said Brewer. “And it’s hard to do that more and more with big studio films because they need actors that people already know to sell the movie. So, the biggest star in ‘Footloose’ is ‘Footloose.”
There were some hesitations about remaking the film, because the original was such a hit and was so loved.
But once the studio and Brewer decided to work together to create the remake there was no stopping them.
“I have been reading the reports of it playing around the world, and people love it,” Brewer said.
“People feel like they got to celebrate the original again. People who’ve never seen the original said they want to go back to it, but there’s a whole bunch of people that have never even seen ‘Footloose’ and they absolutely love it.”