No Footloose director?
Once upon a time, Paramount launched a FOOTLOOSE remake that would've reunited the star and director - Zac Efron and Kenny Ortega, respectively - of the highly popular High School Musical movies. It seemed a match made in heaven. But then Efron sort of hit it big on his own and decided he didn't want to be stuck singing and dancing for the rest of his career, so he bailed (and was later replaced by "Gossip Girl" star Chace Crawford). Now the production has lost another member of the original...

Director Kenny Ortega won't be getting Footloose
Looks like Chace Crawford won’t be playing chicken with tractors for quite some time. The “Gossip Girl” star was announced to be the star of the new Footloose remake last May and filming was going to start during the hiatus; however, according to Variety , director Kenny Ortega (the High School Musical franchise) has left the production due to “differences with Paramount Pictures on tone and budget.” More specifically: Insiders said Ortega wanted to make a picture...

Kenny Ortega Quits “Footloose” Remake: PHOTO
Kenny Ortega has dropped out as director of Paramount’s Footloose remake, starring Gossip Girl’s Crawford and country starlet Julianne Hough, according to Variety . The High School Musical lensman reportedly left the project after clashing with the studio about budget and tone. Kenny, who directed the soon-to-be-released Michael Jackson concert film This Is It , allegedly wanted to stage complex Musical numbers — which would have cost the studio $30 million. Paramount...

Director Kenny Ortega Bows Out of 'Footloose': PHOTO
The remake of Footloose has hit another snag. First, Zac Efron decided he didn't want to be everyone's perception of Zac Efron any longer, and now director Kenny Ortega (also of High School Musical ) has walked away from the project. Chace Crawford had replaced Efron in the lead role, and now Paramount will have to find a new director before moving forward. At issue, according to Variety , was the "tone and budget." I would think Paramount wants a less squeaky clean version of the 1984 story,...

Kenny Ortega Out of Footloose Remake: PHOTO
I guess High School Musical and This it It director Kenny Ortega didn't want to get footloose with Paramount's remake of the popular eighties film.

Footloose Remake Loses Director!!!: PHOTO
This is one MAJOR setback! Kenny Ortega , the man behind High School Musical , Dirty Dancing , and the new Michael Jackson Documentary, This Is It, has pulled out of his latest project, the new Footloose remake! Apparently, the acclaimed director and choreographer had problems with Paramount Pictures over tone and budget for the film. Insiders suggest that Kenny was looking to make an elaborate Musical spectacle out of the movie, needing somewhere near $30 million dollars to create fabulous...

Director Kenny Ortega Exits FOOTLOOSE: PHOTO
Director Kenny Ortega has left Paramount Pictures “Footloose” remake over differences on tone and budget. According to Variety , the studio wanted “an edgier drama with less emphasis on the Musical numbers and a budget around $25 million or less.” Ortega, who previously directed all three “High School Musical” films and the upcoming Michael Jackson movie “This Is It”, wanted a film with elaborately staged Musical numbers and a higher budget. More...

Michael Jackson - Michael Jackson Needed To Eat: PHOTO
Kenny Ortega, who was the choreographer for the late Michael Jackson's sold-out 'This Is It' Concerts, wanted Michael to eat more during rehearsals.

Ortega exits Paramount's 'Footloose'
Kenny Ortega has ankled as director of "Footloose" over differences with Paramount Pictures on tone and budget. The move comes just before Ortega's Michael Jackson concert film "This Is It" bows on Wednesday. Par is beginning the search for a new director who will keep the pic on track to start production in March, when star Chace Crawford is on hiatus from "Gossip Girl." Crawford is starring with Julianne Hough, the "Dancing with the Stars" hoofer and country singer who became top choice last...

Kenny Ortega Isn't 'Footlose' After All
The remake of 'Footloose' will have to dance on without 'High School Musical' director Kenny Ortega at the helm. Over the weekend, Ortega departed the production after disagreeing with Paramount Pictures on tone and budget, Variety reports. Ortega reportedly wanted elaborately-staged Musical numbers and a budget north of $30 million, while Paramount was holding out for an "edgier" drama and a budget of no more than $25 million. Paramount will begin looking for a new director immediately....

Elizabeth Taylor: Michael Jackson Film the "Most Brilliant Piece of Filmmaking"
Elizabeth Taylor says the upcoming Michael Jackson film This Is It is "the single most brilliant piece of filmmaking" she has ever seen. In a series of 19 tweets , the two-time Oscar winner, who saw the movie last week, lavished unbridled praise on the Documentary, director Kenny Ortega and her late friend. LaToya and Katherine Jackson: We won't watch Jackson film "[The film] cements forever Michael's genius in every aspect of creativity," she wrote. "To say the man is a genius is an...

Director Kenny Ortega Leaves Paramount's Footloose Remake
Director and choreographer Kenny Ortega has spent a lot of time in Disney's court, from the beloved 1992 Musical Newsies starring a young, though not entirely vocally fresh, Christian Bale, to the overly-popular High School Musical movies. No matter your Musical tastes, there's no denying that Ortega knows his way around fast-paced song and dance numbers.

Footloose Remake Loses Director, But Still On Track
Paramount Pictures is not giving up on the "Footloose" remake. Zac Efron was previously set to star and his "High School Musical" helmer Kenny Ortega was set to direct. Efron then left the project, stating that he doesn't want to dance in movies anymore. And now Ortega has dropped out as well over difference with the studio on tone and budget. Paramount has already replaced Efron with "Gossip Girl" star Chace Crawford and will now be searching for a new director. The goal is to keep the pic on...

Michael Jackson Is “Genius” In “This Is It” Tweets Elizabeth Taylor
Michael Jackson’s This Is It will begin its two-week theatrical run tonight as special advance engagements screen in select cities around the world (the film opens wide tomorrow). After Rolling Stone saw a few scenes from the film last week, we called the footage “impressive” and said Jackson — just weeks before his June 25th death — “hits all the notes, nails all the dance moves.” Elizabeth Taylor, a close friend of Jackson’s, also watched the...

Elizabeth Taylor: Michael Jackson documentary is “Brilliant Piece of Filmmaking”: PHOTO
Long time friend of Michael Jackson Elizabeth Taylor saw the  Michael Jackson Documentary    "Michael Jackson’s This Is It"   last week.  Based on rehearsal footage shot while Jackson was preparing for his series of comeback Concerts, the movie "cements forever Michael’s genius in every aspect of creativity," Taylor says. She urged her fans to see it "again and again." Elizabeth  posted the following on her Twitter : I...

'Footloose' Director Kenny Ortega Drops Out Of Project
Zac Efron was the first to bow out of the "Footloose" remake, and now director Kenny Ortega is also reportedly bidding farewell to the project. According to Variety , the director, who is also the man behind "Michael Jackson's This Is It," due out this week, pulled out after differences with the studio, Paramount. Sources tell Variety that the director, who worked with Efron on all three "High School Musical" movies, didn't like the tone and budget laid out for him...

Liz Taylor: "This Is It" con Michael Jackson è eccezionale: PHOTO
Liz Taylor ha visto un’anteprima del documentario su Michael Jackson, “This Is It“, ed è stata immediatamente colta dall’irrefrenabile pulsione di precipitarsi su Twitter…

-Footloose' loses Director Kenny Ortega: PHOTO
Musical mastermind Kenny Ortega has pulled out of the upcoming ‘ Footloose ‘ remake due to “tone and budget”. The ‘High School Musical’ director wanted to make a heavily emphasized “musical” with a 30 million dollar budget, but the studio appears to be taking the film in a more dramatic/less Musical direction. The cast, including Chace Crawford and Julianne Hough remains the same, but the budget of the film dropped from 30 Million to 25 Million....

-Footloose' Loses Director Kenny Ortega: PHOTO
Director Kenny Ortega has pulled out of the Paramount Pictures flick Footloose due to tone and budget. Variety reports Ortega wanted to make a $30 million picture with elaborately-staged musical numbers while the studio wanted an edgier $25 million drama with less emphasis on the musical numbers. Production is still expected to start in March with Gossip Girl hunk Chace Crawford and Dancing with the Stars alum Julianne Hough . Ortega , who choreographed Dirty Dancing and directed the High School...

Director Kenny Ortega Bows Out of Footloose Remake: PHOTO
Film director Kenny Ortega , whose Michael Jackson concert Documentary This Is It opens Wednesday for a limited engagement, has bowed out of the upcoming Footloose remake. Known for his work on the teen dance film franchise High School Musical , Ortega parted ways with Footloose studio, Paramount, because of creative differences over budget and tone, according to Variety . "Coming off the extraordinary project, Michael Jackson's This is It , director Kenny Ortega has decided it is premature for...

Footloose - Ortega Quits Footloose: PHOTO
The upcoming remake of classic 1984 dance movie FOOTLOOSE has been thrown into jeopardy after director Kenny Ortega quit the project, according to reports. The High School Musical filmmaker was said to have been unhappy with the tone and budget of the update and decided he no longer wanted to be involved in its production, reports trade paper Daily Variety. A spokesperson for Paramount Pictures has refused to confirm speculation about Ortega's reasons for leaving, but hinted his recent work on...

'This Is It' Sneak Peek: Michael Jackson Performs 'Smooth Criminal': PHOTO
ET has yet another look inside the film that documents Michael Jackson's last days.

Elizabeth Taylor: Michael Jackson Movie "Most Brilliant Piece of Filmmaking": PHOTO
Elizabeth Taylor has high praise for the new movie about her late friend Michael Jackson . The 77-year-old actress said Michael Jackson's This Is It is "the single most brilliant piece of filmmaking" she has ever seen. See photos of Michael Jackson's most unforgettable moments Although Taylor said she first saw the Documentary last week, she was sworn to secrecy until Monday, and in a series of dozens of Twitter posts, she said that she "wept from pure joy at his God-given gift" and was...

Unwanted 'Footloose' Remake in Peril!: PHOTO
Paramount just can't hang on to alumni of Disney's Musical High School. Variety reports Kenny Ortega, director of This Is It and heir to the Ortega taco-making supplies fortune (unconfirmed), has departed from the studio's planned Footloose remake over disputes about tone and budget. Fellow High School Musical participant Zac Efron had earlier left the project to be replaced by his faerie brethren, Chase Crawford. Paramount is still looking to keep the film on track for March shooting, and is...

Director Kenny Ortega Exits 'Footloose'
Kenny Ortega , the director behind Disney's successful High School Musical   franchise, has dropped out of the remake of the '80s hit Footloose . See photos of Disney stars who broke out big According to Variety , Ortega and Paramount, the studio behind the film, disagreed on the film's tone and budget, prompting the director to leave the production. Paramount said it would begin its search for a new director today (Monday). See photos of Chace Crawford The update of Footloose is set to...