Craig Brewer to helm Footloose

First Zac Efron wanted to do it. Then he didn’t. Then Gossip Girl ’s Chace Crawford signed on. Then he signed off.

But despite all of the talent hot-footing it away from the Footloose remake, Paramount have finally landed a choreographer, um, director for the film – and it’s Black Snake Moan ’s Craig Brewer.

You can thank Paramount president Adam Goodman for Brewer’s involvement – he wanted the remake to be edgier than was originally planned by first director Kenny High School Musical Ortega. And he’ll no doubt get that from Brewer.

Apparently Brewer’s 2005 musical drama Hustle & Flow , which won an Oscar for its original music, piqued Paramount's interests in him for Footloose . With him at the helm, we should definitely expect something a little bit different from this remake.

Who should step into Crawford’s shoes?

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.