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Jennifer Gray’s “Dirty Dancing” sequel might seem like another glossy legacy sequel to a Hollywood classic, but producer Nina Jacobson is working to develop a follow-up that honors the grit and raw emotion of the 1987 original.
“I remember when I first saw it, it looked like a very glossy show. Now it feels kind of indie. They’re taking a lot of risks and they’re touching on a lot of topics that people don’t touch in movies anymore,” Jacobson said during a panel at IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking 2026 Conference presented by AT&T. “If you tried to just slip an abortion subplot into a romantic movie now, I think you’d get a lot of notes on that.”
Jacobson participated in a conversation with IndieWire editor-in-chief Brent Lang at Saturday’s event in Los Angeles. Her film production company Color Force, where she is a producer and partner, is also behind FX’s “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette” and Lionsgate’s upcoming “Hunger Games” prequel “Sunrise on the Reaping.” Earlier this year, Color Force also came on board as producers for Lionsgate’s “Dirty Dancing” remake (though not “Dirty Dancing 2,” lest we forget “Havana Nights”), which sees Gray return as housemate Frances “Baby” for a new ’90s romance with another young cast.
“Gray has amazing insights into why she thinks [‘Dirty Dancing’] has lasted as much or how it’s about her character that spoke to people as much as it still does,” Jacobson said. But it should make you feel the way the book did, and it should feel the way the book felt. [We are] trying to follow the feel of that original film. Being able to tell a young love story that could take some of those risks but still evoke those feelings felt like an amazing opportunity for us.”
Along with Grey’s lead turn, “Dirty Dancing” also stars a co-lead turn with Patrick Swayze, as intimate dancer Johnny Castle who teaches Baby how to have the time of her life. Swayze died in 2009 of pancreatic cancer and Jacobson plans to honor the late star’s legacy with the sequel.
“That’s one of the things you have to focus on: how you let people mourn it in a movie,” Jacobson said. Then she added a promise: “And don’t worry, we won’t be bringing it back with AI.”
Along with “Dirty Dancing,” Jacobson also shared details about the new HBO series “Crazy Rich Asians,” which will draw from Kevin Kwan’s book series to continue the story depicted in the hit 2018 romantic comedy adaptation. While a second film has long been considered, the producer explained why an ongoing TV series was the method used to return the property.
“We’ve struggled with trying to adapt it as a feature. It’s very difficult to make a sequel to a romantic comedy because you’re solving the main emotional conflict,” she said. “And, honestly, part of it was that none of the people from the feature side that were there when we did the original were still there. … They didn’t have that desire, but HBO had a great desire for the books.
“It was unbelievable if we tried to do this right after the movie came out: the idea that you could get all these blown people to do a TV show together,” Jacobson continued. “But now everyone misses everyone else. Television is really one of the best ways for us to reunite because it’s very difficult to deal with everything that people loved about the movie in a sequel.”
Along with the conversation with Jacobson, IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking Summit also included a keynote with directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, diving into the making of their sci-fi blockbuster “Project Hail Mary,” and a one-on-one with Bill Hader on what he learned with his hit debut “They Know.”
IndieWire Future of Filmmaking Summit 2026 is presented by AT&T Untold Stories, an award-winning multi-year collaboration between AT&T and the Tribeca Festival that provides $1.2 million dollars, mentorship, and extensive support to the next generation of filmmakers who want to bring their films to the big screen. For more information, visit here.
