From Staff Reports 

A proposed Lionsgate remake for television of the movie “Dirty Dancing” — to be filmed in the Asheville area — was abrupty canceled July 30, but the producers claim that they remain “up in the air” over the project and declined to rule out its filming at some point in the future

Lionsgate was one of three recipients in April from an initial $10 million state grant program, which replaced a more generous tax credit program that lawmakers eliminated last year.

The “Dirty Dancing” cancelation frees up $4 million that can go to other projects. The N.C. Department of Commerce is giving film and TV producers until Aug. 7 to apply for the aforementioned grant funds.

Despite the cancelation and return of the funds, Lionsgate producers said they “still hae a very strong interest in being here,” but the timing of the “Dirty Dancing” project is “still somewhat up in the air.”

In a second film-related project with a local connection, the release date for “Masterminds,” a major motion picture filmed in the Asheville area last year has been delayed again, Variety magazine reported in mid-August. 

“Masterminds” orginally was scheduled for release in August, but in July the production company Relativity Media pushed the release date from August to October. But now the release has been delayed again because of financial turmoil with the company.

 As for the “Dirty Dancing” TV remake, Lionsgate had planned to create 1,300 jobs and spend $16 million in the Asheville area this summer as it filmed the three-hour special, which was scheduled to air on ABC.

However, a requirement of the grant is that projects must be able to begin filming within 100 days,” which caused the cancelation of the “Dirty Dancing” project because it had been put on hold by the studio.