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Hustle & Flow Director Craig Brewer Feeling a Little Footloose?

by Ethan Anderton
October 30, 2009

Earlier this week we found out that High School Musical director Kenny Ortega (who's enjoying some sweet success from the Michael Jackson concert doc This Is It) decided to leave the upcoming musical adaptation of Footloose starring Chace Crawford and Julianne Hough. While my mind initially drifted towards Bill Condon (of Dreamgirls) as a great replacement, apparently Paramount is getting the more dramatic edge they wanted (as opposed to Ortega's musical-number-heavy production) as THR's Risky Biz Blog says Hustle & Flow director Craig Brewer is very high on the list of potential replacements to helm the project.

While Hustle & Flow wasn't exactly a musical, the hip-hop soundtrack driven story and the edgy drama is probably just the right combination for Paramount. However, I can't really imagine Brewer bringing the same urban style from that movie to Footloose, unless the plan is to really steer this away from the pop rock feel of the original. With a cast like Chace Crawford and Julianne Hough though, I'm sure that it won't be as unconventional as I'm making it seem. Anyway, Hustle & Flow was a surprisingly well-crafted film that really thrust actor Terrence Howard forward as a dominant force on screen. But of course, who knows if Brewer will even be officially offered the job. We'll keep you posted as the story on Footloose develops!