Entertainment

‘Footloose’ remake in limbo after ‘Gossip Girl’ star drops out

The remake of 80s classic “Footloose” is in limbo after star Chace Crawford hung up his dancing shoes, FOXNews.com reported Tuesday.

While insiders at Paramount said the “Gossip Girl” star’s shooting schedule was to blame, FOX News learned the movie production has been off-schedule and off-track all year. Now, Paramount will likely launch a nationwide talent search for the new male star to star opposite “Dancing with the Stars” alum, Julianne Hough.

Sources said the schedule and script were never locked down in time to get Crawford into shoot before he would have to return to “Gossip Girl.”

“Chace and Julianne met and talked – they did get together,” said a source who works on the film. “Julianne thought it was going to happen. They never really got a chance to dance much, because dates and the script were not locked down. Julianne never got to see Chace dance during his audition.”

Schedule changes and director problems got serious late last year when “High School Musical” director Kenny Ortega backed out of helming the project.

“The leads had planned to begin filming as early as March of this year, but that date got shifted as one problem after another came up. When Kenny Ortega decided he couldn’t do it after the intense process of making ‘This Is It,’ things changed again,” the source said.

Hough told FOX News last year she suspected there could be delays.”We’re just working out the nitty gritty scheduling details. I’m holding my breath until I’m actually eating popcorn in the movie theater watching it! You never know until it is filmed and on screen,” she said.

Zac Efron was originally signed on to reunite with “HSM” pal Ortega, but backed out last year.

Read more at Fox News.