Jennifer Grey is set to reprise her iconic role as Frances “Baby” Houseman in a new sequel to the loved ’80s film Dirty Dancing. In the years since the original classic was released in 1987, there have been numerous attempts to revive it as a multimedia franchise, with a 1988 TV series, a 2004 prequel (Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights), a 2015 made-for-TV musical, and a 2017 remake. Announced this week at CinemaCon, this latest sequel marks the first time any of the original cast have returned to reprise their roles. Patrick Swayze, who played Grey’s love interest in the first film, passed away in 2009. A planned miniseries revival in the mid-2010s was also cancelled before it could get off the ground.
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There are no official details for the movie yet, although EW suggests this might be a movie set in the 1990s, rather than one that picks up 35 years after the original. Way back in 2020, Grey was said to be working with Lionsgate, who will produce and distribute this film, on a ’90s-set movie in which she would star and serve as executive producer.
“Jennifer Grey returns to Kellerman’s in the next chapter,” said an announcement during Lionsgate’s presentation at Cinemacon in Las Vegas (via EW). Kellerman’s, a resort in the Catskills, was the setting for the original Dirty Dancing and presumably one of the most important locales in Baby’s life. It seems likely that by this point, it will be Baby who is serving as an instructor, although whether she will fall for a new student or not is anyone’s guess. Over the years, that particular plot point of the original has not aged as well as the rest of the movie.
Below, you can check out the official synopsis for the original Dirty Dancing:
Baby (Jennifer Grey) is one listless summer away from the Peace Corps. Hoping to enjoy her youth while it lasts, she’s disappointed when her summer plans deposit her at a sleepy resort in the Catskills with her parents. Her luck turns around, however, when the resort’s dance instructor, Johnny (Patrick Swayze), enlists Baby as his new partner, and the two fall in love. Baby’s father forbids her from seeing Johnny, but she’s determined to help him perform the last big dance of the summer.
