Kenny Ortega leaves Footloose

Paramount will have to start looking for a new director to take over Footloose today, because over the weekend director Kenny Ortega announced he was leaving the project.

Kenny’s publicity department issued a statement saying, “Coming off the extraordinary project, Michael Jackson’s `This is It,’ director Kenny Ortega has decided it is premature for him to commit to his next film and will not be moving forward with Footloose as previously reported,” according to Variety.

There were disagreements between Kenny and Paramount over tone and budget, according to sources Kenny wanted to make Footloose a $30 million film with elaborately staged musical numbers. Adam Goodman chief of production was looking for more drama and less on musical numbers with a budget off $5 million less.

Production is still planned to begin in March. To read more on this story go to hollywoodcrush.com.