The opening scene takes place in New York City 1975, with a grown-up Frances saying how she never forgot her relationship with Johnny. In late summer 1963, affluent, college-bound Frances visits Kellerman’s resort with her family and falls in love with working-classdance instructorJohnny Castle. The film closely follows the plot of the original film; although there are notable changes:
Baby plans to study medicine, rather than economics.
The role of Marjorie Houseman is significantly expanded. Feeling alienated by Jake's lack of attention and affection, despite her active efforts to engage him, Marjorie contacts a divorce lawyer and suggests she and Jake live apart. As Kellerman's is where Marjorie and Jake met and fell in love, Jake romances Marjorie and they have sex, reconciling.
The role of Vivian Pressman is also expanded; now a divorcee who visits Kellerman's alone, she tells Marjorie of her intense loneliness at night. When Johnny is accused of theft, the stolen property is no longer Vivian's ex-husband's wallet, but instead his watch, which Johnny earlier rejected as a gift and which Vivian apparently planted among his belongings.
Lisa rejects Robbie much earlier in the film. She befriends a new character, Marco, the resort's African-American pianist. Over his boss Tito's objections, Marco teaches Lisa to play the ukulele and performs with her in the talent show. Tito and Max acknowledge that the world is changing for the better.
A frame story is added. In 1975, Frances attends "Dirty Dancing", a Broadway show choreographed by Johnny and inspired by a book Frances wrote. Frances' faith in Johnny gave him the confidence to pursue a career. Frances is married and has a daughter. Frances takes a weekly dance lesson; she and Johnny encourage each other to continue dancing.
Cast
Production
In January 2011, Lionsgate announced that Kenny Ortega, the choreographer of the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, would direct its remake; however, the project was shelved the following year. In December 2015, ABC and Lionsgate Television announced a three-hour remake of the movie which will not be live and would be in the same vein as , a remake of the 1975 film of the same name. The remake was directed by Wayne Blair and the screenplay was written by Jessica Sharzer. Allison Shearmur was attached to the project as executive producer.
Casting
had been officially attached as Baby, while the studio would green-light the project after further casting; this role was originally played by Jennifer Grey. In January 2016, ABC officially green-lit the project after Debra Messing was cast as Baby's mother. The following month, after a lengthy audition process, dancer Colt Prattes was announced as Johnny, the role originally played by Patrick Swayze. In March 2016, it was announced that Nicole Scherzinger would co-star as Penny, Johnny's dance partner, alongside Sarah Hyland as Lisa Houseman, Baby's sister, and Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Jake Houseman, Baby's father. Billy Dee Williams as Tito, the band leader, Shane Harper as Robbie, joined the cast of the movie alongside Beau “Casper” Smart and J. Quinton Johnson. Later that month, Trevor Einhorn was tapped to play Neil Kellerman. In April 2016, Katey Sagal and Tony Roberts were respectively cast as Vivian Pressman and Max Kellerman.
Filming
Filming was based in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Most of the filming locations were across western North Carolina including Hendersonville Asheville, Cashiers and Saluda, with filming taking place in April and May 2016. People living in the Hendersonville area served as crew members, extras and dancers, and they were invited to provide cars from the 1960s. Much of the filming took place at High Hampton Inn in Cashiers, as well as Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville. It created an estimated 1,225 jobs, including 900 extras, 30 cast members and 225 crew positions to support the project.
Marketing
The official poster was unveiled in March 2017, and features Breslin and Prattes in an embrace from their final dance in the movie. A 30-second teaser trailer was released a month before the television movie's release.
Soundtrack
Reception
Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 19% based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10. On Metacritic, the film was given a score of 39 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Kimberly Roots of TVLine gave Dirty Dancing a D, stating: "By adding unnecessary elements and turning Dirty Dancing into a musical, ABC proves that it wouldn't know what made the original film special if it hit them in the pachanga." Mae Abdulbaki of theyoungfolks.com gave Dirty Dancing a 3, stating "Remaking one of the most popular and beloved movies in the history of cinema feels almost disrespectful on many levels. Going into the TV movie remake of Dirty Dancing with a clear and open mind, I figured that if at least the dancing was good, then there was something to enjoy. However, the updated version doesn't even meet the lowest of expectations and blows past mediocre to land at downright terrible. The film is slow and dull, the lead actors have absolutely no chemistry, and the musical aspect doesn't add anything to the film." Sonia Saraiya of Variety stated in her negative review: "An ill-conceived remake of the 1987 film retains none of the passion, skill, or fun of the original."
Viewership
Dirty Dancing averaged a 1.3 rating in adults 18-49 and 6.6 million viewers, airing from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. The remake gave ABC its most-watched Wednesday in nearly seven months, but was also considered to be a disappointment in the ratings and lost the evening to the CBS season finale of Survivor.
