“Center Stage” fans have much to celebrate. The cult classic ballet drama, which turned 20 years old yesterday, will serve as the inspiration for a follow-up series hailing from “Someone Great” writer-director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson that’s in development at Sony Pictures Television. Deadline broke the news.
Long before starring in international blockbuster franchises such as “Avatar,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and “Star Trek,” Zoe Saldana made her feature debut with “Center Stage.” The ensemble cast also included Amanda Schull, who went on to appear in “Pretty Little Liars,” “12 Monkeys,” and “Suits.”
Set at New York’s American Ballet Academy, 2000’s “Center Stage” tells the story of 12 teenagers pursuing their dreams in the world of dance.
The TV series is being written by Robinson, who is also set to exec produce and direct the potential pilot.
Described as a “series continuation of the original film set today within the highly competitive world of dance,” the project follows “a new, inclusive class of dancers as they work to stay at the academy and clash against the traditional students and style the ABA is known for. Ballet has always been a conformist world, but with Cooper Nielson now at the helm of the ABA and the ABC, change is on the horizon in more ways than one,” the source hints.
Deadline specifies that no talent is attached to the series. Cooper was played by Ethan Stiefel in “Center Stage” as well as 2008’s “Center Stage: Turn It Up” and 2016’s “Center Stage: On Pointe.”
Currently co-writing “Thor: Love and Thunder” alongside Taika Waititi, Robinson made her feature directorial debut with last year’s Gina Rodriguez-starrer “Someone Great.”
“It’s so incredibly important for me to hire women, people of color, and LGBTQ folks,” Robinson told us. “We had 74 women in front of and behind the camera [for ‘Someone Great’]. When you’re at the top and you can say this is how I want my crew to look and this is how I want my crew to feel, it’s important that you are able to use that voice and that platform to amplify voices that have not had the opportunity to be in these positions before. It was an amazing thing to be able to make this film for women with women,” she emphasized.
Robinson created “Sweet/Vicious,” an MTV comedy about vigilantes determined to bring justice to their college campus.
