Iconic ’00s Ballet Movie ‘Center Stage’ Is Becoming A TV Show
This week marked the 20th anniversary of iconic ballet movie Center Stage, and to celebrate the milestone it is now being reported that the film is being turned into a TV show. Oh, happy day.
Deadline is reporting that a series that will follow on from the original film is in development with Sony Pictures Television. The adaption will be helmed by Sweet/Vicious creator Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, and The Greatest Showman producer Laurence Mark, who was also the producer of the 2000 movie and its two sequels.
Could not be more exciting to be developing one of my favorite movies into a series!!!! Center Stage is perfect. Turn on some Jamiroquai and DANCE- it’s Center Stage’s 20th Anniversary! @DEADLINE https://t.co/6PqjCVybOw
— Jenn Kaytin Robinson (@JennKaytin) May 12, 2020
Robinson will write, executive produce, and direct the potential pilot, which will introduce a new class of students at the fictitious American Ballet Academy in New York City. In news that has shook me to my very core, Cooper Nielson is now running the ABA and the ABC, and facing an inner battle between conforming to or rebelling against traditional ballet standards. While we all know Cooper as professional ballet dancer Ethan Stiefel, his involvement in the TV series hasn’t been confirmed at this point.
The original movie positioned Cooper as the bad boy of the ballet world, who seduces new ABA student Jody Sawyer (dessert?!), then drops her like a hot potato. Who knows what he’ll do next in the TV show?!
I spend an inordinate amount of time wondering whether or not Jody Sawyer really stayed a principal in Cooper Nielson’s dance company.
— Ian Fields MD (@eeyanmiller) February 3, 2020
Unfortunately history predicts that ballet-focused television tends to crash and burn, rarely getting past a first season. Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino’s first foray into TV was in ballet comedy Bunheads, but it didn’t get a second season, while Foxtel’s Flesh and Bone only produced eight episodes before being discontinued. Hopefully, Center Stage is the exception.
Until we hear more about the series, let’s rewatch the mind-bending final dance and get ready to dance the shit out of it!!!