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Kenny Ortega, the director of Disney’s High School Musical movies, has reportedly dropped out of the remake of “Footloose,” which was originally to star Zac Efron.
Zac dropped out of the project in March, saying that he wanted to “shake things up” and try new things, and wouldn’t be doing anymore singing and dancing movies. Chace Crawford was hired to replace him in the lead role.
Ortega has supposedly dropped the movie due to differences with Paramount studios, citing that he didn’t like the tone and budget laid out for him by the studio, though Paramount says it’s strictly budget related.
Ortega reportedly wanted to make an elaborate movie with a budget of around $30 million, but production chief Adam Goodman apparently wanted it to be edgy and not focus as much on the dance routines. He also wanted the budget to be closer to $25 million. Paramount has confirmed the budget dispute, and the studio said the budget will be even less than $25 million.
Production was supposed to begin in March 2010, but now that Ortega has left, that’s now up in the air, though the studio says they will begin looking for a new director this week.
[image: splashnewsonline]