Chicago duo to remake Footloose

Paramount has made a deal with them to reinvent the 1984 hit as a full-scale musical, according to showbusiness newspaper Variety.

Zadan and Meron will produce a film in which the actors will sing and dance themselves, as they did in the movie version of Chicago, the paper said.

Tunes from the original Footloose will be used, including the hit title track and Let's Hear It For The Boy, it added.

The songs from the original Herb Ross-directed film served as background to the story of a newcomer who defies a town's ban on music by organising a dance.

" We'll use the same premise, but write a new script that will use new film techniques to make a dynamic musical "
Craig Zadan

"This is going to have a more experimental feel and will be closer in tone to Moulin Rouge than Chicago," Zadan is quoted as saying.

Zadan's first producing credit came on the original Footloose which cost $8.5m (£5.4m) to make and grossed $81m (£51.8m) in the US.

The new version will be kept under $30m (£19.1m), according to Zadan.

"We'll use the same premise, but write a new script that will use new film techniques to make a dynamic musical," he said.

"We'll find a young cast that sings and dances and the original songs will have brand new arrangements that will make them more appropriate for a contemporary audience."

Zadan said they were already in talks with screenwriters, directors and choreographers.

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