Latest Kenny ortega Stories

A lot of people like to watch holiday-themed movies around the holidays. This includes the upcoming and popular holiday, Halloween.

When it comes to remakes, reboots and sequels, I have a tendency to veer toward an optimistic approach. I figure if some studio's looking to revisit a popular film from yesteryear in some way, I may as well try to find the bright side to the situation. In the case of Lionsgate's plans to reboot Dirty Dancing, the bright side currently comes in the form of screenwriter Brad Falchuk and director Kenny Ortega.

I still don’t love the title of ABC Family’s upcoming new dance-focused drama series Bunheads, but the recently released teaser does raise my hopes somewhat that this will be a fun show for the summer. The drama follows a Vegas showgirl who marries and moves to a town where she gets a job teaching dance at her mother-in-laws dance school. The series already has a good premise going for it, and now it looks like it’ll benefit from the dance and directing expertise of Kenny Ortega.

Lionsgate is certainly aiming for the right kind of talent with this project. Tapping the original film’s choreographer, Kenny Ortega to helm the film does instill confidence that a person with directing experience and a proven passion for dance will be at the wheel. The project’s recently acquired writer also happens to know a little something about musicals, which may also prove beneficial here.

Maria Maggenti, whose previous work includes four episodes of Without A Trace and the recently released Monte Carlo, has been hired by Lionsgate to write the script for the new Dirty Dancing. In the 1987 film, a young girl (Jennifer Grey) goes with her upper-class family to a resort in the Catskills where she falls in love with the local dancing instructor (Patrick Swayze).

Back in 2007 it was reported that Kenny Ortega, best known for directing all three High School Musicals, had been hired to helm a remake of Footloose. From that point on it was a series of ups and downs, with Zack Efron signing on for the lead role and then leaving the project. Though Ortega said the project would continue without Efron, it eventually fell apart and the director decided to leave.

Last week it was reported that Kenny Ortega, the director behind This Is It, was planning yet another Michael Jackson-based film, this time a feature length "adaptation" of the song Thriller. Considering

Halloween is the perfect time to revisit the timeless and epic music video for Michael Jackson's Thriller. Directed by John Landis and featuring a

Well, pilgrim, you've got yourself just under a year to find yourself an eye patch, a cowboy hat and a six-shooter so you can roll up to the theater in full Rooster Cogburn gear and scare the shit out of anyone headed to see Joel and Ethan Coen's True Grit remake.

Heights, which won the Best Musical Tony in 2007, was originally composed and written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also starred in the original Broadway run as Usnav

Even though he's an experienced film director, with High School Musical 3 and Newsies behind him, Kenny Ortega didn't start his last adventure with Michael Jackson with the camera in mind

Of course Ortega isn't the first key player to bounce on the project-- Zac Efron had to be replaced by Chace Crawford just a few months after he'd signed on

Ortega also revealed that there may be a 3D re-release of Michael Jackson’s This Is it later on, including the revamped music videos that were originally to be broadcast during the concerts in 3D. That's right

Are they just going to settle for High School Musical sidekick Corbin Bleu and be done with it? Are they going to turn some unknown into Efron's greatest rival? Are they kidding us with this harebrained remake scheme?