Kenny Ortega has ditched his ‘Footloose’ directing duties, temporarily leaving the remake with no one at the helm. The studio is reportedly searching for a new director to meet the goal of beginning production in March.

Paramount and Ortega confirmed the split. A statement issued by Ortega’s camp said, “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.”

But, according to Variety, there’s more to the story — the ‘Dirty Dancing’ choreographer and the studio fell out over disagreements on tone and budget. The trade magazine says Ortega, who directed three ‘High School Musical’ movies, had plans for a large scale production with a focus on elaborately staged musical numbers. His vision would have required a budget of around $30 million. Paramount’s Adam Goodman, however, had a slightly smaller scale project in mind, thinking of spending a maximum of $25 million. He also wanted an edgier drama with less emphasis on the musical numbers.

The 1984 original ‘Footloose’ starred Kevin Bacon as big city bad-boy, Ren McCormack who moves to a small town where dancing is prohibited, and Lori Singer as Ariel Moore, the preacher’s daughter, ripe for corruption. The remake features Chace Crawford and Julianne Hough.

Meanwhile, Ortega probably isn’t wasting too much time dwelling on the decision. With the Michael Jackson concert film, ‘This Is It’ opening this week, Variety muses that he is likely expecting the biggest directorial opener of his career.

Columbia Pictures has given the film only a two-week run around the world, but insiders suggest that will expand if the movie becomes a hit, as is expected.

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