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Fame 2009…why they remake movies that were already great!

That’s what’s going on with Fame this fall as the 1980 movie gets a sparkly new remake. The original film is one of my all time favorites. It’s got music. It’s got dance. It’s got a moving story as the film follows a handful of students from auditioning to get into the school of performing arts on through their graduation.

Now there is a new Fame with a new cast and creators. Interestingly, Debbie Allen returns in this film, although she’s not Lydia Grant. She’s the principal Angela Simms. This seems dumb… why can’t she be Lydia Grant and be the principal. To have her as a different character makes no sense given how intertwined she is with this franchise.

Anyway, the rest of teacher cast looks solid: Charles S. Dutton, Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mullally and Bebe Neuwirth. The actors playing the students don’t have name recognition for me, except for Kherington Payne. I loved her on last summer’s installment of So You Think You Can Dance and it’s great to see her pop up in the trailer.

Kevin Tancharoen makes his feature film debut with Fame. So far he’s credited with some episodic TV work, such as the Pussycat Dolls reality series, a couple MTV reality series and Britney Spears Live from Miami. Among the most recognizable credits for the screenwriters is The Devil Wears Prada (for Aline Brosh McKenna) and Autumn in New York (for Allison Burnett).

Here’s a first look at what’s coming in September:

Here’s a look at the 1980 trailer to do a quick comparison…

Even though the new trailer doesn’t make me hopeful of a finished product that will hold up well against the 1980 original, I’m sure I’ll be in the theatre opening weekend hoping to see some Fame magic strike again.