Footloose (2011 film)
Encyclopedia
Footloose is a 2011 American dance film
directed by Craig Brewer
. It is a remake of the 1984 film of the same name and stars Kenny Wormald
, Julianne Hough
, Dennis Quaid
, and Andie MacDowell
. The film follows a young man who moves from Boston to a small southern town and protests the town's ban against dancing.
Filming took place from September to November 2010 in Georgia
. It was released in Australia and New Zealand on October 6, 2011 and in North America on October 14, 2011. It grossed $15.5 million in its opening weekend and was met with generally positive reaction from critics.
), the reverend of the church of the small Southern United States town of Bomont, Georgia; persuades the city council to pass several paternalistic laws, including a ban on all unsupervised dancing within the city limits.
Three years later, Ren McCormack (Kenny Wormald
), a teenager raised in Boston
, moves to Bomont to live with his uncle, aunt, and cousins after his mother's painful death from leukemia
. Soon after arriving, Ren makes friends with Willard Hewitt (Miles Teller
), a fellow senior at Bomont High, and from him learns about the ban on dancing.
He soon begins to be attracted to Moore's rebellious daughter Ariel (Julianne Hough
), who is dating dirt-track driver Chuck Cranston. After an insult from Chuck, Ren ends up in a game of chicken involving buses, and despite his inability to drive a bus, he wins. Reverend Moore mistrusts Ren, forbidding Ariel to see him ever again. Ren and his classmates want to do away with the law and have a senior prom. After an argument about Ren, Chuck breaks up with and abuses Ariel. Moore initially wants Ren arrested, but Ariel convinces him that Chuck is the real assailant and that she isn't a virgin. Moore's wife, Vi, is supportive of the movement to allow dancing. She explains to Moore he cannot be everyone's father, and that he is hardly being a good father to Ariel. She also says that dancing and music are not the problem.
Ren goes before the city council and reads several Bible
verses, given to him by Ariel, that claim in ancient times people would dance to rejoice, exercise, or celebrate. Ren also teaches Willard how to dance. The city council votes against him. Undaunted, Ren convinces the owner of the cotton mill where he works to let them have a prom there; the mill is just outside the Bomont city limits. Ren goes to see Moore, knowing that Moore still has enough clout to pressure the parents not to let their teenagers come. Ren tells Moore that even though they denied the motion to dismiss the law, they cannot stop the teenagers from having the dance. He then asks him respectfully if he can take Ariel.
On Sunday, Shaw asks his congregation to pray for the high school students putting on the prom. Not long after Ren and Ariel arrive at the prom, Chuck and several of his friends ride up, intent on beating up Ren. However, Ren and Willard fend them off. Ren then flings some confetti into a shredding machine and yells, "Let's dance!"
was announced as director but left the project a year later after differences with Paramount and the production budget
. Peter Sollett was also hired to write the script. Dylan Sellers, Neil Meron
and Craig Zadan
served as producer; Zadan having produced the original Footloose. In 2010, Craig Brewer
came on to re-write the script after Crawford and Ortega left the project and also served as director. The writer of the original film, Dean Pitchford
, also co-wrote the screenplay. Amy Vincent
served as cinematographer
.
was cast as Ren McCormack, but he left the project in March 2009. Two months later, it was reported that Chace Crawford
would replace Efron, but he later had to back out due to scheduling conflicts. Thomas Dekker
was a "top candidate" for the role but on June 22, 2010, Entertainment Weekly
reported that Kenny Wormald
had secured the lead role as McCormack.
Former Dancing with the Stars ballroom-dance professional Julianne Hough
was cast as Ariel, Dennis Quaid
as Rev. Shaw Moore, and Miles Teller
as Willard. On August 24, 2010, Andie MacDowell
joined the cast as Quaid's wife. During an interview on The Howard Stern Show, Kevin Bacon
said he declined a cameo appearance
in the film as he did not like the role.
", the remake is set in fictional "Bomont, Georgia
". On a budget of $24 million, principal photography
began in September 2010 in and around metro Atlanta
, and wrapp
ed two months later in November. A courtroom scene was shot at the Newton County Historic Courthouse in Covington
on September 17, 20 and 21. A family scene was filmed at the New Senoia Raceway in Senoia
on October 1.
A scene taken from the original film, in which McCormack plays a game of "chicken
" with his love interest’s boyfriend, was filmed on the Chattahoochee River
bridge on Franklin Parkway in downtown Franklin
also in October. The home and church seen in the film were filmed in downtown Acworth
. Production used the sanctuary of the Acworth Presbyterian Church and the house of the Mayor, Tommy Allegood.
and Warner Music Nashville on September 27, 2011. It includes eight new songs and four remakes of songs from the original film's soundtrack
. Brewer said, "I can promise Footloose fans that I will be true to the spirit of the original film. But I still gotta put my own Southern
grit into it and kick it into 2011". Kenny Loggins
' "Footloose
" was covered by Blake Shelton
for the remake, which is an upbeat country version. The film opens with several teens dancing to Loggins' original version of the song. Like the original film, the 2011 version also features "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)
" by the heavy metal
band Quiet Riot
.
Paramount and HSN partnered for a 24-hour promotion on October 12, 2011. They sold clothing inspired by the film, such as women's red boots, denim, footwear and nail polish brands created by Vince Camuto
and Steve Madden
. To promote the film, Paramount sent the cast on a promotional tour in over a dozen cities.
Footloose was promoted on the October 11, 2011 episode of Dancing with the Stars
. The episode featured film stars Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough—a former champion on the show—dancing to the songs "Holding Out for a Hero
" and "Footloose
" from the film's soundtrack. Many of Viacom
owned channels, like MTV
, Nickelodeon
and CMT
advertised and promoted the film.
($16.2 million) in its opening weekend. Exit polls indicated that the film appealed to 75% of females and 28% of the teen market. About 60% of the audience were over age 25 and 46% over age 35. The 20th highest grossing locations on Friday were in Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City
, Knoxville
, Kansas City
, and San Antonio. The opening was lower than other recent dance films like, Save the Last Dance
(2001, $23.4 million), Step Up
(2006, $20.7 million), but it performed around the same as Step Up 3D (2010, $15.8 million) and You Got Served
(2004, $16.1 million). The 1984 Footloose opened to $20 million when adjusted for ticket price inflation. In its second weekend the film held well, with a drop of 34%. It placed third and grossed an estimated $10.4 million.
In Australia
the film opened to $1.05 million and to $88,078 in New Zealand
. As of November 21, 2011, Footloose has grossed $50.3 million in the United States
and Canada, and $10.7 million in other counties, for a worldwide total of $60.9 million. The 1984 Footloose grossed over $80 million worldwide.
reports that 71% of 150 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6 out of 10. The website's consensus is "While it hews closely to the 1984 original, Craig Brewer
infuses his Footloose remake with toe-tapping energy and manages to keep the story fresh for a new generation." Metacritic
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 58 based on 35 reviews. CinemaScore
polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was an "A" on an A plus to F scale.
Lisa Schwarzbaum
of Entertainment Weekly
gave the film an A minus. She praised the performance of Wormald commenting that he "handily owns the role for a new audience" and closed her review saying, "Guardians of the '80s flame will approve of the production's sincere respect for the original; church still matters, and so do Ariel's red cowboy boots". Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
gave a negative review of the film rating it with only one and half stars out of four. He criticized the film for being so close to the 1984 original "sometimes song for song and word-for-word". He thought poorly of Wormald's performance saying, "he's got the Kevin Bacon role but not the Kevin Bacon charisma". Ebert closed his review expressing, "This new Footloose is a film without wit, humor or purpose. It sets up the town elders as old farts who hate rock 'n' roll. Does it have a clue that the Rev. Moore and all the other city council members are young enough that they grew up on rock 'n' roll? The film's message is: A bad movie, if faithfully remade, will produce another bad movie".
Variety
s Rob Nelson also notes that the film failed to distinguished itself from the original and denounces Wormald and Hough's acting performances saying, "when the music stops, young Hough is saddled, like her co-star, with the impossible task of making 27-year-old verbiage sound fresh". Nelson noted that Brewer's musical staging is "subtly less theatrical than Ross
', but it hardly constitutes a reinvention" and that Brewer's film comes across as "slightly milder" than Ross', such as with Ariel's abuse by former boyfriend being toned down for 2011. Todd McCarthy
of The Hollywood Reporter
disapproved of how the dance numbers and action sequences were staged, shot and cut, saying "The visual clumsiness does not disguise that Wormald (a professional dancer since extreme youth), especially, but the others too, are very good dancers. But the compositions vary randomly between close-ups, awkward medium shots and general coverage that cuts together with no cumulative dynamic power". Orlando Sentinel
's Roger Moore gave the film two and half out of four stars.
Kenneth Turan
of the Los Angeles Times
gave the film a positive review saying "The new version of 1984's Footloose has updated moves and a sexier look but retains the story line. It doesn't have the emotional impact of the original, but it ups the energy level". He expressed that the film was "not so much a remake as a renovation" and notes that the remake is similar to the original but said it was "in all the ways that count". The New York Times
s A. O. Scott
wrote a mixed review and called the dance numbers "woefully inadequate" when compared to Glee
, High School Musical
and Step Up
. For Wormald's performance he said "he has energy but no real magnetism, and while he may be in possession of what are technically known as “moves,” his dancing lacks sensuality and a sense of release". Scott gave Miles Teller a good review saying that he "has a natural charisma that is both comic and kind of sexy". He described the music in the remake as "better and more eclectic than the original, with some blues, country and vintage metal mixed in with the peppy dance tunes".
Dance film
Dance Film is the creation of choreography that exists only in the medium of film/video. At its best, DanceFilm uses filming and editing techniques to create twists in the plotline, multiple layers of reality, and emotional/psychological depth....
directed by Craig Brewer
Craig Brewer
Craig Brewer is an American film director and screenwriter. His 2005 movie Hustle & Flow won the Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and achieved commercial success, along with an Academy Award for Best Original Song, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp".- Life and career :Hustle & Flow...
. It is a remake of the 1984 film of the same name and stars Kenny Wormald
Kenny Wormald
Kenny Wormald is an American professional dancer and actor. He is best known for his appearances on the MTV network show Dancelife, and his starring roles in Center Stage: Turn It Up and the 2011 version of the 1984 film Footloose.-Personal life:Wormald was born in Boston, to Melanie and Edgar K...
, Julianne Hough
Julianne Hough
Julianne Alexandra Hough is an American professional ballroom dancer, country music singer and actress. She is most widely known for being a two-time champion of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. She earned a Creative Arts Primetime Emmy nomination in 2007 for choreography...
, Dennis Quaid
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
, and Andie MacDowell
Andie MacDowell
Rosalie Anderson "Andie" MacDowell is an American model and actress. She has received the Golden Camera and an Honorary César.-Early life:...
. The film follows a young man who moves from Boston to a small southern town and protests the town's ban against dancing.
Filming took place from September to November 2010 in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. It was released in Australia and New Zealand on October 6, 2011 and in North America on October 14, 2011. It grossed $15.5 million in its opening weekend and was met with generally positive reaction from critics.
Plot
After a long night of partying, Bobby Moore and four of his friends drive over a bridge and crash into a truck. His father, Shaw Moore (Dennis QuaidDennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
), the reverend of the church of the small Southern United States town of Bomont, Georgia; persuades the city council to pass several paternalistic laws, including a ban on all unsupervised dancing within the city limits.
Three years later, Ren McCormack (Kenny Wormald
Kenny Wormald
Kenny Wormald is an American professional dancer and actor. He is best known for his appearances on the MTV network show Dancelife, and his starring roles in Center Stage: Turn It Up and the 2011 version of the 1984 film Footloose.-Personal life:Wormald was born in Boston, to Melanie and Edgar K...
), a teenager raised in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, moves to Bomont to live with his uncle, aunt, and cousins after his mother's painful death from leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
. Soon after arriving, Ren makes friends with Willard Hewitt (Miles Teller
Miles Teller
Miles Teller is an American actor. Teller was nominated for the Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor at the Chlotrudis Awards 2011 and the Discovery Award at the Savannah Film Festival for his role as Jason in the 2010 film Rabbit Hole.-Life and career:Teller was born in Downingtown,...
), a fellow senior at Bomont High, and from him learns about the ban on dancing.
He soon begins to be attracted to Moore's rebellious daughter Ariel (Julianne Hough
Julianne Hough
Julianne Alexandra Hough is an American professional ballroom dancer, country music singer and actress. She is most widely known for being a two-time champion of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. She earned a Creative Arts Primetime Emmy nomination in 2007 for choreography...
), who is dating dirt-track driver Chuck Cranston. After an insult from Chuck, Ren ends up in a game of chicken involving buses, and despite his inability to drive a bus, he wins. Reverend Moore mistrusts Ren, forbidding Ariel to see him ever again. Ren and his classmates want to do away with the law and have a senior prom. After an argument about Ren, Chuck breaks up with and abuses Ariel. Moore initially wants Ren arrested, but Ariel convinces him that Chuck is the real assailant and that she isn't a virgin. Moore's wife, Vi, is supportive of the movement to allow dancing. She explains to Moore he cannot be everyone's father, and that he is hardly being a good father to Ariel. She also says that dancing and music are not the problem.
Ren goes before the city council and reads several Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
verses, given to him by Ariel, that claim in ancient times people would dance to rejoice, exercise, or celebrate. Ren also teaches Willard how to dance. The city council votes against him. Undaunted, Ren convinces the owner of the cotton mill where he works to let them have a prom there; the mill is just outside the Bomont city limits. Ren goes to see Moore, knowing that Moore still has enough clout to pressure the parents not to let their teenagers come. Ren tells Moore that even though they denied the motion to dismiss the law, they cannot stop the teenagers from having the dance. He then asks him respectfully if he can take Ariel.
On Sunday, Shaw asks his congregation to pray for the high school students putting on the prom. Not long after Ren and Ariel arrive at the prom, Chuck and several of his friends ride up, intent on beating up Ren. However, Ren and Willard fend them off. Ren then flings some confetti into a shredding machine and yells, "Let's dance!"
Cast
- Kenny WormaldKenny WormaldKenny Wormald is an American professional dancer and actor. He is best known for his appearances on the MTV network show Dancelife, and his starring roles in Center Stage: Turn It Up and the 2011 version of the 1984 film Footloose.-Personal life:Wormald was born in Boston, to Melanie and Edgar K...
as Ren McCormack - Julianne HoughJulianne HoughJulianne Alexandra Hough is an American professional ballroom dancer, country music singer and actress. She is most widely known for being a two-time champion of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. She earned a Creative Arts Primetime Emmy nomination in 2007 for choreography...
as Ariel Moore - Dennis QuaidDennis QuaidDennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
as Rev.The ReverendThe Reverend is a style most often used as a prefix to the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. The Reverend is correctly called a style but is often and in some dictionaries called a...
Shaw Moore - Andie MacDowellAndie MacDowellRosalie Anderson "Andie" MacDowell is an American model and actress. She has received the Golden Camera and an Honorary César.-Early life:...
as Vi Moore - Miles TellerMiles TellerMiles Teller is an American actor. Teller was nominated for the Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor at the Chlotrudis Awards 2011 and the Discovery Award at the Savannah Film Festival for his role as Jason in the 2010 film Rabbit Hole.-Life and career:Teller was born in Downingtown,...
as Willard Hewitt - Ser'Darius Blain as Woody
- Ziah Colon as Rusty
- Patrick John FluegerPatrick FluegerPatrick John Flueger is an American actor, known for his lead role in the television series The 4400.-Life and career:...
as Chuck Cranston - Ray McKinnonRay McKinnon (actor)Ray McKinnon is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and producer. He was married to actress and producer Lisa Blount from 1998 until her death on October 25, 2010...
as Uncle Wes Warnicker - Kim DickensKim DickensKimberly Jan "Kim" Dickens is an American actress and model.-Early life:Dickens was born in Huntsville, Alabama, graduated from that city's Lee High School, and attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she majored in communication...
as Aunt Lulu Warnicker
Development
In October 2008, Kenny OrtegaKenny Ortega
Kenneth John "Kenny" Ortega is an American producer, director, and choreographer. He is known for directing the High School Musical trilogy and Michael Jackson's This Is It concert tour.-Life and career:...
was announced as director but left the project a year later after differences with Paramount and the production budget
Production budget
A film production budget determines how much money will be spent on the entire film project. It involves the identification and estimation of cost items for each phase of filmmaking ....
. Peter Sollett was also hired to write the script. Dylan Sellers, Neil Meron
Neil Meron
Neil Meron is an American film producer known for producing the 2002 film Chicago and the 2007 film Hairspray. With partner Craig Zadan he runs the production company "Storyline Entertainment".-Life and career:...
and Craig Zadan
Craig Zadan
Craig Zadan is an American executive producer, director, and writer. Zadan is openly gay and is one half of the successful production team Storyline Entertainment with partner Neil Meron since their meeting many years ago in the New York theatrical community.-Early life:Zadan was born in Miami,...
served as producer; Zadan having produced the original Footloose. In 2010, Craig Brewer
Craig Brewer
Craig Brewer is an American film director and screenwriter. His 2005 movie Hustle & Flow won the Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and achieved commercial success, along with an Academy Award for Best Original Song, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp".- Life and career :Hustle & Flow...
came on to re-write the script after Crawford and Ortega left the project and also served as director. The writer of the original film, Dean Pitchford
Dean Pitchford
Dean Pitchford is an American songwriter, screenwriter, director, actor, and novelist. His work has earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three additional Oscars, two more Golden Globes, seven Grammy Awards and two Tony Awards.-Early life:Pitchford was born in...
, also co-wrote the screenplay. Amy Vincent
Amy Vincent
Amy Vincent, has been a member of the A.S.C. since 2002.-Awards:*2005 won the Vision Award at the Sundance Film Festival for Hustle & Flow...
served as cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
.
Casting
In July 2007, Zac EfronZac Efron
Zachary David Alexander "Zac" Efron is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and became known with his lead roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the 2007 film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray...
was cast as Ren McCormack, but he left the project in March 2009. Two months later, it was reported that Chace Crawford
Chace Crawford
Christopher Chace Crawford , better known as Chace Crawford, is an American actor. He currently portrays Nate Archibald on the CW television drama Gossip Girl.-Early life:...
would replace Efron, but he later had to back out due to scheduling conflicts. Thomas Dekker
Thomas Dekker (actor)
Thomas Alexander Dekker is an American film and television actor and a musician. He is also a singer and has written and produced two albums. He is best known for his roles as John Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Nick Szalinski on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, and Zach...
was a "top candidate" for the role but on June 22, 2010, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
reported that Kenny Wormald
Kenny Wormald
Kenny Wormald is an American professional dancer and actor. He is best known for his appearances on the MTV network show Dancelife, and his starring roles in Center Stage: Turn It Up and the 2011 version of the 1984 film Footloose.-Personal life:Wormald was born in Boston, to Melanie and Edgar K...
had secured the lead role as McCormack.
Former Dancing with the Stars ballroom-dance professional Julianne Hough
Julianne Hough
Julianne Alexandra Hough is an American professional ballroom dancer, country music singer and actress. She is most widely known for being a two-time champion of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. She earned a Creative Arts Primetime Emmy nomination in 2007 for choreography...
was cast as Ariel, Dennis Quaid
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
as Rev. Shaw Moore, and Miles Teller
Miles Teller
Miles Teller is an American actor. Teller was nominated for the Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor at the Chlotrudis Awards 2011 and the Discovery Award at the Savannah Film Festival for his role as Jason in the 2010 film Rabbit Hole.-Life and career:Teller was born in Downingtown,...
as Willard. On August 24, 2010, Andie MacDowell
Andie MacDowell
Rosalie Anderson "Andie" MacDowell is an American model and actress. She has received the Golden Camera and an Honorary César.-Early life:...
joined the cast as Quaid's wife. During an interview on The Howard Stern Show, Kevin Bacon
Kevin Bacon
Kevin Norwood Bacon is an American film and theater actor whose notable roles include Animal House, Diner, Footloose, Flatliners, Wild Things, A Few Good Men, JFK, Apollo 13, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Trapped, Friday the 13th, Hollow Man, Tremors, Death Sentence, Frost/Nixon, Crazy, Stupid, Love....
said he declined a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in the film as he did not like the role.
Filming
Unlike the original, set in the fictional town of "Bomont, UtahUtah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
", the remake is set in fictional "Bomont, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
". On a budget of $24 million, principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
began in September 2010 in and around metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta
The Atlanta metropolitan area or metro Atlanta, officially designated by the US Census Bureau as the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ninth-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States...
, and wrapp
Wrap (filmmaking)
Wrap is a phrase used by the director in the early days of the film industry to signal the end of filming. Nowadays, the call is more commonly "that's a wrap!"...
ed two months later in November. A courtroom scene was shot at the Newton County Historic Courthouse in Covington
Covington, Georgia
Covington is a city in Newton County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 13,118. The city is the county seat of Newton County...
on September 17, 20 and 21. A family scene was filmed at the New Senoia Raceway in Senoia
Senoia, Georgia
Senoia is a city in Coweta County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,738 at the 2000 census...
on October 1.
A scene taken from the original film, in which McCormack plays a game of "chicken
Chicken (game)
The game of chicken, also known as the hawk-dove or snowdrift game, is an influential model of conflict for two players in game theory...
" with his love interest’s boyfriend, was filmed on the Chattahoochee River
Chattahoochee River
The Chattahoochee River flows through or along the borders of the U.S. states of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers and emptying into Apalachicola Bay in the Gulf of...
bridge on Franklin Parkway in downtown Franklin
Franklin, Georgia
Note: a former Franklin, Georgia is now West Point, Georgia.----Franklin is a city in Heard County, Georgia, United States. The population was 902 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Heard County...
also in October. The home and church seen in the film were filmed in downtown Acworth
Acworth, Georgia
Acworth is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,425. Acworth is located in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains along the southeastern banks of Lake Acworth and Lake Allatoona on the Etowah River.Acworth's nickname is "The...
. Production used the sanctuary of the Acworth Presbyterian Church and the house of the Mayor, Tommy Allegood.
Music
The original soundtrack was released by Atlantic RecordsAtlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
and Warner Music Nashville on September 27, 2011. It includes eight new songs and four remakes of songs from the original film's soundtrack
Footloose (soundtrack)
Footloose is the original soundtrack of the Paramount motion picture Footloose. The original nine-track album was released in 1984 and reached Number One on the Billboard 200 Pop Album chart on April 21, 1984, where it stayed until June 30, 1984. When it was re-released in 1998, four bonus tracks...
. Brewer said, "I can promise Footloose fans that I will be true to the spirit of the original film. But I still gotta put my own Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
grit into it and kick it into 2011". Kenny Loggins
Kenny Loggins
During the next decade, Loggins recorded so many successful songs for film soundtracks that he was referred to as, King of the Movie Soundtrack.He began with "I'm Alright" , "Mr. Night", and "Lead the Way" from Caddyshack...
' "Footloose
Footloose (song)
"Footloose" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins. It was released in January 1984 as the first of two single by Loggins from the 1984 film of the same name. The song spent three weeks at number one, March 31—April 14, 1984 on the U.S. Billboard...
" was covered by Blake Shelton
Blake Shelton
Blake Tollison Shelton is an American country music artist. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". Released as the lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" went on to spend five weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts...
for the remake, which is an upbeat country version. The film opens with several teens dancing to Loggins' original version of the song. Like the original film, the 2011 version also features "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)
Metal Health (song)
"Metal Health", sometimes listed as "Metal Health "; "Bang Your Head"; or, as it was listed on the Billboard Hot 100, "Bang Your Head ," is a song by American heavy metal band Quiet Riot on their breakthrough album of the same name. The song is one of their best known hits and received constant MTV...
" by the heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Quiet Riot
Quiet Riot
Quiet Riot is an American Heavy Metal band. They are best known for their hit singles "Metal Health" and "Cum On Feel the Noize". They were founded in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Kelly Garni, under the original name Mach 1, before changing the name to Little Women and finally Quiet...
.
Chart performance
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums Chart | 21 |
| US Billboard 200 | 14 |
| US Billboard Top Country Albums | 4 |
| US Billboard Top Soundtracks | 1 |
Release and promotion
The film was originally scheduled for release in North America on April 1, 2011, but was moved to October 14, 2011. Footloose was released in Australia and New Zealand on October 6, 2011.Paramount and HSN partnered for a 24-hour promotion on October 12, 2011. They sold clothing inspired by the film, such as women's red boots, denim, footwear and nail polish brands created by Vince Camuto
Vince Camuto
Vince Camuto, CEO/Chief Creative Officer of the fashion company Camuto Group, is an American women’s footwear designer who is known for co-founding and establishing Nine West Inc. as a leading women’s fashion brand....
and Steve Madden
Steve Madden
Steve Madden is the founder and former CEO of Steve Madden Ltd., a footwear company.Born in Far Rockaway, Queens, Madden grew up in adjoining Lawrence in Nassau County, New York....
. To promote the film, Paramount sent the cast on a promotional tour in over a dozen cities.
Footloose was promoted on the October 11, 2011 episode of Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars (U.S. season 13)
Dancing with the Stars returned for its thirteenth season on September 19, 2011. Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli returned as the judges, and Tom Bergeron and Brooke Burke Charvet returned as hosts. Twelve couples competed in this season...
. The episode featured film stars Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough—a former champion on the show—dancing to the songs "Holding Out for a Hero
Holding Out for a Hero
"Holding Out for a Hero" is a song written by Jim Steinman and Dean Pitchford, originally recorded by Bonnie Tyler. It was released in 1984 on the soundtrack to the film Footloose. It later appeared on Tyler's Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire album. It hit #96 for the first time in UK in 1984,...
" and "Footloose
Footloose (song)
"Footloose" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins. It was released in January 1984 as the first of two single by Loggins from the 1984 film of the same name. The song spent three weeks at number one, March 31—April 14, 1984 on the U.S. Billboard...
" from the film's soundtrack. Many of Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
owned channels, like MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon is a US cable TV channel.Nickelodeon may also refer to:-In television:*Spinoffs of the Nickelodeon channel:** Nickelodeon Magazine, a children's magazine.** Nickelodeon Universe, an amusement park....
and CMT
Country Music Television
Country Music Television, or CMT, is an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming includes music videos, taped concerts, movies, biographies of country music stars, game shows, and reality programs...
advertised and promoted the film.
Box office
Pre-release audience pollings predicted the film to take in $20 million its opening weekend. However, Paramount expected it to be closer to $15 million. Footloose opened in 3,549 theaters taking in in $15.5 million and placing number two, behind Real SteelReal Steel
Real Steel is a 2011 American science fiction film starring Hugh Jackman and directed by Shawn Levy. The film is based in part on the 1956 short story "Steel" by Richard Matheson, though Levy placed the film in U.S. state fairs and other "old-fashioned" Americana settings. Real Steel was in...
($16.2 million) in its opening weekend. Exit polls indicated that the film appealed to 75% of females and 28% of the teen market. About 60% of the audience were over age 25 and 46% over age 35. The 20th highest grossing locations on Friday were in Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
, Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, and San Antonio. The opening was lower than other recent dance films like, Save the Last Dance
Save the Last Dance
Save the Last Dance is a 2001 romantic drama dance film produced by MTV Films, directed by Thomas Carter and released by Paramount Pictures on January 12, 2001. The film stars Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas as a teenage interracial couple in Chicago who work together to help the main...
(2001, $23.4 million), Step Up
Step Up (film)
Step Up is a 2006 American dance/romance film directed by Anne Fletcher starring Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan.Set in Baltimore, Maryland, the film follows the tale of the disadvantaged Tyler Gage and the privileged modern dancer Nora Clark , who find themselves paired up in a showcase that...
(2006, $20.7 million), but it performed around the same as Step Up 3D (2010, $15.8 million) and You Got Served
You Got Served
You Got Served is a film written and directed by Chris Stokes, manager of its stars, recording artist Omarion, Marques Houston and the members of boy band B2K. The plot concerns a group of dancers, who take part in a street dancing competition...
(2004, $16.1 million). The 1984 Footloose opened to $20 million when adjusted for ticket price inflation. In its second weekend the film held well, with a drop of 34%. It placed third and grossed an estimated $10.4 million.
In Australia
Cinema of Australia
Cinema of Australia, more commonly referred to as the Australian film industry, refers to the system of production, distribution, and exhibition of films in Australia. Film production commenced in Australia in 1906 with the production of The Story of the Kelly Gang, the earliest feature film made...
the film opened to $1.05 million and to $88,078 in New Zealand
Cinema of New Zealand
New Zealand cinema, can refer to films made by New Zealand-based production companies in New Zealand. However, it may also refer to films made about New Zealand by filmmakers from other countries...
. As of November 21, 2011, Footloose has grossed $50.3 million in the United States
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
and Canada, and $10.7 million in other counties, for a worldwide total of $60.9 million. The 1984 Footloose grossed over $80 million worldwide.
| Release date (United States) |
Budget | Box office revenue | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States/Canada | Other markets | Worldwide | ||
| October 14, 2011 | $24,000,000 | $50,270,361 | $10,699,255 | $60,969,616 |
Critical reviews
The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports that 71% of 150 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6 out of 10. The website's consensus is "While it hews closely to the 1984 original, Craig Brewer
Craig Brewer
Craig Brewer is an American film director and screenwriter. His 2005 movie Hustle & Flow won the Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and achieved commercial success, along with an Academy Award for Best Original Song, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp".- Life and career :Hustle & Flow...
infuses his Footloose remake with toe-tapping energy and manages to keep the story fresh for a new generation." Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 58 based on 35 reviews. CinemaScore
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.-Background:...
polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was an "A" on an A plus to F scale.
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum is an American film critic. She joined Entertainment Weekly as film critic in the 1990s. She has been featured on CNN, co-host on Siskel & Ebert At the Movies as well as a cultural, theater and television reviewer....
of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the film an A minus. She praised the performance of Wormald commenting that he "handily owns the role for a new audience" and closed her review saying, "Guardians of the '80s flame will approve of the production's sincere respect for the original; church still matters, and so do Ariel's red cowboy boots". Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
gave a negative review of the film rating it with only one and half stars out of four. He criticized the film for being so close to the 1984 original "sometimes song for song and word-for-word". He thought poorly of Wormald's performance saying, "he's got the Kevin Bacon role but not the Kevin Bacon charisma". Ebert closed his review expressing, "This new Footloose is a film without wit, humor or purpose. It sets up the town elders as old farts who hate rock 'n' roll. Does it have a clue that the Rev. Moore and all the other city council members are young enough that they grew up on rock 'n' roll? The film's message is: A bad movie, if faithfully remade, will produce another bad movie".
Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
s Rob Nelson also notes that the film failed to distinguished itself from the original and denounces Wormald and Hough's acting performances saying, "when the music stops, young Hough is saddled, like her co-star, with the impossible task of making 27-year-old verbiage sound fresh". Nelson noted that Brewer's musical staging is "subtly less theatrical than Ross
Herbert Ross
Herbert Ross was an American film director, producer, choreographer and actor.-Early life and career:Born Herbert David Ross in Brooklyn, New York, he made his stage debut as Third Witch with a touring company of Macbeth in 1942...
', but it hardly constitutes a reinvention" and that Brewer's film comes across as "slightly milder" than Ross', such as with Ariel's abuse by former boyfriend being toned down for 2011. Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy is an American film critic. He wrote for Variety for 31 years as its chief film critic before being fired in 2010. He is currently a critic for The Hollywood Reporter....
of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
disapproved of how the dance numbers and action sequences were staged, shot and cut, saying "The visual clumsiness does not disguise that Wormald (a professional dancer since extreme youth), especially, but the others too, are very good dancers. But the compositions vary randomly between close-ups, awkward medium shots and general coverage that cuts together with no cumulative dynamic power". Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel
The Orlando Sentinel is the primary newspaper of the Orlando, Florida region. It was founded in 1876. The Sentinel is owned by Tribune Company and is overseen by the Chicago Tribune. As of 2005, the Sentinel’s president and publisher was Kathleen Waltz; she announced her resignation in February 2008...
's Roger Moore gave the film two and half out of four stars.
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan is an American film critic and Lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California.-Background:...
of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
gave the film a positive review saying "The new version of 1984's Footloose has updated moves and a sexier look but retains the story line. It doesn't have the emotional impact of the original, but it ups the energy level". He expressed that the film was "not so much a remake as a renovation" and notes that the remake is similar to the original but said it was "in all the ways that count". The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
s A. O. Scott
A. O. Scott
Anthony Oliver Scott, known as A. O. Scott , is an American journalist and critic. He is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with Manohla Dargis.-Background and education:...
wrote a mixed review and called the dance numbers "woefully inadequate" when compared to Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
, High School Musical
High School Musical (film series)
The High School Musical film series consists of three Disney musical films directed by Kenny Ortega and created by Peter Barsocchini. It stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, and Monique Coleman. The original film was released simply as a Disney Channel...
and Step Up
Step Up (film series)
The Step Up films have been successful around the world, with three films already released, Step Up, Step Up 2: The Streets and Step Up 3D.-Step Up 4Ever:A fourth film has been confirmed and is set to be released sometime in 2012...
. For Wormald's performance he said "he has energy but no real magnetism, and while he may be in possession of what are technically known as “moves,” his dancing lacks sensuality and a sense of release". Scott gave Miles Teller a good review saying that he "has a natural charisma that is both comic and kind of sexy". He described the music in the remake as "better and more eclectic than the original, with some blues, country and vintage metal mixed in with the peppy dance tunes".