Quick Links
Summary
- The release date for Dirty Dancing 2 has been pushed back due to the recent strike by SAG-AFTRA, causing a delay in production and promotion of the movie.
- Jennifer Grey has been confirmed to return as Baby Houseman in Dirty Dancing 2, and efforts are being made to involve as many original cast members as possible.
- The sequel plans to honor the late Patrick Swayze by incorporating his character, Johnny Castle, into the story of Dirty Dancing 2 rather than recasting. His estate is currently negotiating with Lionsgate for his involvement.
The 1987 romantic drama dance movie Dirty Dancing is finally getting a proper sequel, and the latest Dirty Dancing 2 news continues to show how all due care is being taken when creating the followup to one of the late Patrick Swayze's most beloved movies. The 1980s saw the release of many movies that are now considered classics from different genres, and romance films were especially popular. In the years since its release, Dirty Dancing has remained one of the most beloved films of the decade.
Set in 1963, Dirty Dancing tells the story of Frances "Baby" Houseman (Jennifer Grey), a young woman vacationing with her family at an upscale Catskills resort in the Borscht Belt, owned by her father’s friend, Max Kellerman. There she meets Johnny Castle (Swayze), the resort’s dance instructor, with whom she starts a romantic relationship. Together they prepare for an important performance at a nearby resort, but they encounter a couple of obstacles along the way, mostly from people who don’t approve of their relationship. Dirty Dancing was a critical and commercial success. Now, almost four decades later, Dirty Dancing 2 is on the horizon.
The Latest Dirty Dancing 2 News
Originally slated for a 2024 release, the latest news regarding Dirty Dancing 2 is that the film has been delayed due to the recently resolved SAG/AFTRA strike. The ambitious goal of February 2024 is no longer feasible, so the sequel's release has been pushed to the summer of 2025. Even though the Hollywood strikes have been resolved, no one involved with the project has offered any new updates in several months.
The WGA strike was resolved on September 27th, 2023, and the SAG/AFTRA strike was resolved on November 9th, 2023.
Dirty Dancing 2 Is Confirmed (But Delayed)
Dirty Dancing 2 was confirmed in 2020, but updates on the development of the project have been scarce. In June 2022, Lionsgate announced the projected release date for the Dirty Dancing sequel, so viewers were expecting to reunite with Baby on February 9, 2024. Lionsgate has since changed that Dirty Dancing 2 release date, pushing it back more than a year. Dirty Dancing 2 will now release in the summer of 2025.
Dirty Dancing 2 Cast: Who Is Returning
Dirty Dancing 2 was announced in 2020, along with the news that Jennifer Grey will return as Baby Houseman to lead the Dirty Dancing sequel cast. Grey’s involvement in Dirty Dancing 2 was confirmed during CinemaCon 2022, and while the movie is already in pre-production, so far Grey is the only confirmed character from Dirty Dancing to return. Director Jonathan Levine said they are trying to “involve as many people from the original movie as appropriate.", so it's plausible that more Dirty Dancing characters will be present in Dirty Dancing 2.
How Dirty Dancing 2 Will Honor Patrick Swayze
Very little information about the cast or premise of Dirty Dancing 2 has been shared publicly. One thing which has been confirmed is that, in the wake of Patrick Swayze’s death in 2009, the creative team plans to incorporate his character in Dirty Dancing 2 rather than recast Johnny Castle. Grey explained (via The Express), “What happened, happened, and that will never happen again. There will never be another Johnny. There will never be another Patrick.”
Lionsgate has been negotiating with Swayze’s estate to be able to include the star in the sequel in some way, but his widow, Lisa Niemi Swayze isn’t so sure that Swayze would have been involved in a Dirty Dancing sequel. She’s said in the past that he believed the original movie’s ending was “absolutely perfect” and that Swayze had turned down ideas presented to him for a sequel before, that he “had a high standard, and he wasn’t gonna do it just for the money.”
Dirty Dancing 2 Story: What Is The Sequel About?
Plot details about Dirty Dancing 2 are a mystery, but the basic idea has already been revealed. Dirty Dancing 2's story will see Baby returning to Kellerman’s resort for another summer of dancing and romance. Baby’s story is intended to intertwine with that of a new young couple at the resort, and of course, Dirty Dancing 2 will involve a lot of dancing.
