Back in August, Deadline reported Jennifer Grey was set to reprise her role as Frances "Baby" Houseman in a sequel to the classic film Dirty Dancing. The original, which first hit theaters 33 years ago, followed Baby as she spent the summer with her family at a Catskills resort. During her vacation, Baby meets dance instructor Johnny Castle—played by the late Patrick Swayze—and the two fall for each other as they prepare for a competition.
Little is known about the upcoming sequel as of now, however, Grey recently told People the movie won't try to replace Swayze. The actor behind Johnny Castle sadly passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2009.
"All I can say is there is no replacing anyone who’s passed—you never try to repeat anything that’s magic like that," Grey told the outlet. "You just go for something different."
Grey also took time to reflect on why the film still resonates with so many people over three decades after its release. "Its appeal was that it was very genuine and simple," she explained. "It was about innocence and the way that innocence is lost and how people explode into a different iteration of themselves."
The sequel will be directed by Jonathan Levine with Gillian Bohrer and will feature a screenplay done by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis. Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer told Deadline that pre-production on this sequel has been "one of the worst kept secrets in Hollywood." He also shared that the Dirty Dancing follow up will be "exactly the kind of romantic, nostalgic movie that the franchise’s fans have been waiting for and that have made it the biggest-selling library title in the Company’s history."
Are you excited for more Dirty Dancing?
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