K.C. Bailey
Everybody’s gonna be cutting loose and kicking of their Sunday shoes again this October when the remake of the 1984 Kevin Bacon classic Footloose invades theaters.
This new version, set to open on Oct. 14, hews closely to the original and follows Ren McKormick (newcomer Kenny Wormald) as he struggles to adjust to a small town where dancing has been banned. Dancing with the Stars‘ Julianne Hough plays bad girl Ariel, who also happens to be the daughter of the town minister, portrayed by Dennis Quaid.
All the scenes that Footloose fans love (the acrobatic mill sequence; the “Let’s Hear it for the Boy” dance training montage) are present for the remake, along with some of the original soundtrack’s best known hits—albeit with a twist.
EW can EXCLUSIVELY reveal that The Voice cohost and country superstar Blake Shelton will be singing the title track, originally covered by Kenny Loggins. Wanna know what teen star is tackling “Almost Paradise?” Or what One Tree Hill actress is handling “Let’s Hear It for the Boy?” See below for the Footloose soundtrack reveal…
1. Footloose – Blake Shelton
2. Where The River Goes – Zac Brown
3. Little Lovin’ – Lissie
4. Holding Out For A Hero – Ella Mae Bowen
5. Let’s Hear It For The Boy – Jana Kramer
6. So Sorry Mama – Whitney Duncan
7. Fake I.D. – Big & Rich feat. Gretchen Wilson
8. Almost Paradise – Victoria Justice & Hunter Hayes
9. Walkin’ Blues – Cee Lo Green feat. Kenny Wayne Shepherd
10. Window Paine – The Smashing Pumpkins
11. Suicide Eyes – A Thousand Horses
12. Dance The Night Away – David Banner
Also featured in the film but not on the soundtrack:
White Stripes “Catch Hell Blues”
Three 6 Mafia “Get Your Feet Off The Ground”
Whiz Khalifa “Black & Yellow”
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Well if this isn’t a “Game Over” Moment then nothing is. Bad enough they remake the movie but the soundtrack as well.
Are we all just going to ignore the 10th track?
Looks like so I am just gong to say it. What are The Smashing Pumpkins doing here?
You mean the only thing worth listening to on the soundtrack?
.
Aww heck. I wanted Charlie Sheen as the minister.
.
Look at that picture. Could anything else aside from Liberace scream “flaming!”?
Yeah, this is going to be dreadful.
I have to agree with you on that one. I was not going to the remake but now this just killed it for sure.. R.I.P. Footloose…
Actually, I saw this in a sneak preview screening in Memphis a couple of weeks ago. I was not expecting to enjoy it, but Craig Brewer’s remake improves on the original in every way. He said there was some audio cues that had to be recut— I’m guessing he meant putting the remake songs in there, because he used the original versions in the cut I saw.
I swear to you, keep an open mind when you think about this one. It was shockingly good. Go check it out.
Lance Meadows Posted on I been telling lsmeyf since last night I think I want to go for a jog this evening; its been a while . This post must be a sign that I really do need to throw on my running shoes also and hit the track (especially since I missed National Running Day) tonite. Thanks for the inspiration Leslie!
Chandra Posted on Love it! Glad I had a chance to run with you the other day! Helped me to get back on track while I was up there! Know that you keep me rpsniied!
It all sounds well and good but… do really need a FOOTLOOSE remake? And if we do, why recreate the iconic images? It seems kind of pointless to me. Like that PSYCHO remake in color some years back.
The only thing worse would be if they do a remake of “Dirty Dancing.” Oh wait….
Actually, having seen the sneak preview a couple of weeks ago, I can tell you— Do not underestimate this film. THis is not a shot for shot, scene for scene remake like that pointless Psycho one.
In fact, I was saying on Twitter that it looked like a shot for shot remake, and the director joined my conversation to tell me I was wrong. The next day, I went to the preview screening, and he was right.
Trust me on this— This is a terrific movie. It’s not Citizen Kane, but what is?
As far as recreating the iconic images, here’s my take after seeing the film—
Imagine you’re doing a Psycho remake. Not like that crap one Gus Van Sant did, but a genuine remake with an updated script and a different take on the characters, fleshing them out, giving them more depth.
Are you going to skip the shower scene? Absolutely not. Are you going to skip Norman’s big reveal as his mother? Of course not. These are scenes that are too big to skip.
There are scenes that are recreations— Make no mistake about it. But there’s enough original content here that when you come to one of those scenes, it doesn’t feel out of place— It feels like a slight nod of the head to the original. Ren and Ariel even wear the same outfits to the dance that they did in the original.
But here’s an example of what it means to have this different take on the characters, and how it relates to the original scene.
In the original movie, after being an annoying attention ho the whole movie, Ariel stands on the railroad tracks and plays chicken. Ren saves her, but I was thinking “Get out of the splatter zone and enjoy the show! Put her out of our misery!”
In the remake, Ariel plays chicken with the train the same way. But by that point, she has been revealed as a deeply flawed, damaged character. I watched that scene and thought “Someone please help that messed up little girl”.
Like I say— Try it. You will be surprised at just how improved this story is.
Thank you for some thoughtful insight and actual analysis. You so rarely see that on these message boards. I may be one of the few, but I wasn’t completely obsessed with the original. It was OK, but I never really got as into it as say Dirty Dancing. I’m actually really interested to see this remake.
Wow… that looks ass bad.
Jana Kramer is from One Tree Hill and she’s singing ‘Let’s Hear It For The Boy’ not ‘Holding Out For A Hero.’
BOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Haha! I am not familiar with the book but this is so cute! Did you draw the oargne or is it from a photo? I love how she is looking at it so carefully, in case it might sprout legs and rush her!
If they are just going to re-make the movie scene for scene, I’ll just watch the original, thanks
My thoughts exactly!
I saw the sneak preview a couple of weeks ago here in Memphis. Craig Brewer actually hosted the event (He lives here) and let the hometown crowd see it first. So what I’m telling you is based on a viewing of the entire film, minus some of the songs mentioned in this article (For early curts, he used the original Footloose soundtrack).
There are some scenes that are the same, but this is anything but a shot for shot remake. I don’t think they did a great job of showing that in the trailer, and I told Craig Brewer that on Twitter.
The characters have a lot of depth they didn’t have before. While there are maybe half a dozen scenes that anchor to the original, the rest of the film is new.
I wouldn’t touch this movie or its soundtrack with a ten foot pole!
or a ten foot-loose pole!
Will all of you people stop panning a movie you have not seen yet? So far all of the reviews of this movie have been great. At least see it so you know what you are talking about.
It’s more country leaning and rock driven on this soundtrack than the pop sounds of the 1984 soundtrack. And Blake Shelton’s tackling Footloose! I’m sure he heard Kenny Loggins’s original to actually pull it off on his own spin of it! Maybe they asked him while he was doing The Voice this spring.
Please tell me this is a serious joke. Ashton? ASHTON?
That’s actually what I said when I found out he was replacing Charlie Sheen.
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Sorry, but this is a big fat helping of yuck.
Pass…
I don’t think they wanted to go the collaboration trend so common on soundtracks and pop. This pop/R&B/rap patchwork so common in music these days. So they went the more conservative low-key route with the other genres.
Ladies and gentlemen, your nominees for the 2012 Razzies (also known as the Teen Choice Awards.)
No thank you…
This movie is totally unnecessary, as was the remake of “Fame.” I will boycott.
The ‘Fame’ remake cost $18 million to make and grossed $77 million worldwide. Necessary? Maybe not for you, but it sure was one of MGM’s few bright spots over the past few years.
Did you see Fame? It was awful..just because it made money does not make it good…
No, I didn’t, because I could feel the awfulness rolling off the trailers and posters. However, people have this habit of forgetting the business part of “show business.” In the case of ‘Fame’ and most likely ‘Footloose,’ the studios produce low-cost remakes that will draw in both the younger crowd as well as older people struck by nostalgia. It’s a shrewd move that more often than not turns out very profitable. Again, necessary for the viewers? No. Necessary for the studios and production houses? Yes.
NO BIG LOSS!!