Everything we know about the 'Dirty Dancing' sequel starring Jennifer Grey

In early 2020, we got the confirmation we had been waiting 33 years for: the sequel to Dirty Dancing is coming, and Baby is coming with it.

Not only will Dirty Dancing 2 see actress Jennifer Grey reprise her star-making role as Baby Houseman, she’s also serving as executive producer.

At the CinemaCon 2022 presentation this week, Lionsgate teased Jennifer Grey's return in a short snippet.

“Jennifer Grey returns to Kellerman’s in the next chapter,” a voiceover teased at CinemaCon, according to Entertainment Weekly. Few other details about the sequel were revealed.

In 2020, Jennifer opened up about the process of revisiting the film and how difficult it is continuing the story without the late, great Patrick Swayze.

“All I can say is there is no replacing anyone who’s passed—you never try to repeat anything that’s magic like that," she told People. "You just go for something different."

Patrick, who played the dance instructor heartthrob Johnny in the 1987 cult classic, died in 2009 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Noting that the sequel won’t try to recast, recreate, or recapture the chemistry they had together, she said that the reason the film is still so beloved to this day is because, “it was very genuine and simple."

"It was about innocence and the way that innocence is lost,” she told the outlet, “and how people explode into a different iteration of themselves.”

Both Jennifer and Patrick were honoured with Golden Globe nominations for their performances in the film back in the day, and the movie won both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for the song “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life.”

The details of the sequel have been kept under lock and key (are they gonna do the lift or what? We need answers!), but we do know that it will be directed by Jonathan Levine and Gillian Bohrer, and the screenplay will be written by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis. Jennifer Grey is also signed on as an executive producer.

This isn’t the first time they’ve tried to spin the Dirty Dancing legacy into a sequel: there was a short-lived TV series in 1988, and a sort-of sequel Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights in 2004, but Jennifer has long been averse to signing on to the role for a second time.

Now aged 62, she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 why she turned down a part in a made-for-TV remake.

“I was asked to do something on that show and I was flattered because I always want to be asked because it’s nice to want to be included. But for me, it would be sacrosanct for me to do it because it didn’t feel appropriate to me. […] I wouldn’t say [what role was offered] but I will tell you, it wasn’t Baby!”

Ah, that sassy Baby. She’s like the wind.