Dirty Dancing actor Jennifer Grey says sequel is on the way

Hollywood actor Jennifer Grey has signalled that the long-awaited Dirty Dancing sequel is "happening" - and will feature some familiar faces.

Months after helping announce details about the movie during Lionsgate's presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas earlier this year, Jennifer Grey filled Extra in on some new developments and said that filming for the project kicks off in the spring, reports People magazine.

"I would say that you can count on it being at Kellerman's, returning to Kellerman's," Grey said of the setting from the 1987 original.

Then noting that her character of Frances "Baby" Houseman is also going to be "quite a few years older," Grey teased that a few "other characters from the original" will be joining her as well. "It's tricky, and also exciting," Grey told Extra.

People further states that the actor teased her return to Dirty Dancing during CinemaCon in April, 35 years after starring opposite the late Patrick Swayze in the original. Swayze played Johnny Castle, the character whom Baby met at the Catskills resort as a teen during the summer of 1963.

The capacity of Grey's role has been kept relatively under wraps since the announcement, and the actor told People in November 2020 that the film won't attempt to recapture her chemistry with Swayze, who died in 2009.

"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 magazine at the time. "You just go for something different."

Grey will also executive produce the sequel, and explained at the time that the original film's "appeal was that it was very genuine and simple." The film is expected to be released in 2024.