‘Dirty Dancing’ Remake Will Star Abigail Breslin: Sorry, Bindi Irwin!

The Dirty Dancing remake is going to star Abigail Breslin, because nobody puts Litte Miss Sunshine in the corner! There’s no word on whether Bindi Irwin also auditioned for the lead role in the upcoming ABC remake of Dirty Dancing, but some Dancing with the Stars fans are probably disappointed that the Crocodile Hunter’s daughter won’t be appearing in the TV movie — mere weeks ago, Bindi proved that she makes a great Baby on ABC’s popular dancing show.

According to Entertainment Weekly, ABC’s Dirty Dancing remake will be a three-hour musical. However, unlike previous network TV musicals like The Wiz!, Peter Pan, and The Sound of Music, it won’t be a live show — it’s going to be a taped TV movie. Scream Queens star Abigail Breslin will play Baby in the remake of the romantic 1987 movie that starred Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze as a pair of unlikely lovers. The 19-year-old’s character is described as “an innocent young woman in the early 1960s who vacations with her affluent parents and siblings in the Catskill Mountains and falls for the resort’s working-class dance instructor.”

Abigail Breslin has already starred in a movie dance scene that’s almost as memorable as Baby and Johnny’s oft-imitated Dirty Dancing lift. In the 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine, Breslin performed a silly striptease to Rick James’ “Super Freak” that was hilariously awkward. It didn’t require a lot of dance talent, but Olive Hoover won over a child beauty pageant crowd with her infectious enthusiasm.

There’s no word on whether Abigail Breslin has any dance experience that will help her execute Baby’s Dirty Dancing moves, but the actress is a big fan of watching other people dance. During an interview with Stylecaster, she revealed that she’s obsessed with the Lifetime reality series Dance Moms.

“My favorite TV show would probably be Dance Moms,” Breslin revealed. “I love it so much, I get so addicted to every single episode, and have to sit there, think about what is actually happening, and I cry. One episode gave me so much anxiety that I actually threw up. That is probably over-sharing, but it really gave me a lot of anxiety. The mom drama is probably my favorite part.”

Unfortunately for the powers-that-be at ABC, Abigail Breslin is a fan of the wrong dance show. The network’s own dance-themed reality series, Dancing with the Stars, has paid homage to Dirty Dancing multiple times, so perhaps it shouldn’t be all that shocking that ABC is trying a Dirty Dancing remake. According to the Los Angeles Times, Jennifer Grey actually competed on Season 11 of Dancing with the Stars in 2011, and the then-50-year-old Dirty Dancing star waltzed away with the Mirrorball Trophy.

Grey’s pro partner was Derek Hough, who would go on to dance with Bindi Irwin during the latest season of the show. Just weeks ago, Bindi and Derek recreated the final dance sequence from the Dirty Dancing movie for Dancing with the Stars. They danced a rumba to the song “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” and they nailed Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze’s iconic lift. As the Inquisitr previously reported, Jennifer Grey visited Bindi and Derek while they were rehearsing to give them a few tips on how to execute the lift. However, she and Patrick Swayze actually didn’t practice the tricky move at all before they filmed one of Dirty Dance‘s most beloved scenes.

You can watch Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough’s perfect Dirty Dancing routine below.

There’s no word on who is up for the role of Patrick Swayze’s dance instructor character in the Dirty Dancing remake, but perhaps Derek Hough is being considered for the part. He already works for ABC as a dance instructor, and he’s done a little acting on the ABC series Nashville. Derek also knows a lot about Dirty Dancing after working with Jennifer Grey and recreating the Dirty Dancing lift.

Interestingly, Dirty Dancing isn’t the only connection that Bindi Irwin and Abigail Breslin share. According to the Wrap, they’ve also portrayed the same movie character. Abigail played the titular role in the 2008 film Nim’s Island, and Bindi took over the part in the movie’s 2013 sequel, Return to Nim’s Island.

Do you think Abigail Breslin’s Dirty Dancing performance will wow ABC viewers just like Bindi Irwin’s perfect rumba did? And do you think that Derek Hough would make an amazing Johnny?

[Photo by Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]