Jennifer Grey.Photo: Rob Kim/Getty

Jennifer Grey

Jennifer Greyis reassuring fans that the long-awaitedDirty Dancingsequel 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, the actress, 62, filledExtrain on some new developments and said that filming for the project kicks off in the spring.

“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.

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The capacity of Grey’s role has been kept relatively under wraps since the announcement, and the actress told PEOPLE in November 2020 that the film won’t attempt to recapture her chemistry withSwayze, who died in 2009 of pancreatic cancer at age 57.

“All I can say isthere is no replacinganyone who’s passed — you never try to repeat anything that’s magic like that,” she told PEOPLE at the time. “You just go for something different.”

Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection

Jennifer Grey during Premiere of “Dirty Dancing” at Gemini Theater in New York City, New York, United States

Grey — who released her memoirOut of the Cornerin May — 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, and Jonathan Levine was tapped to direct, perVariety.

In April 2022, Grey told PEOPLEthat the follow-up film has been in the works “for a couple of years.”

“And I know in my heart, I would love to give fans or a young, new audience an experience that would never replicate that, buthas the same kind of underpinnings,” she explained. “Today people think that their identity is limited, the world has told them what it is. But there are certain people who can see other parts of you.”

“Dirty Dancingwas a fairy tale, a successful movie and formula, using dance as a metaphor for embodying your energy and getting out of your head, and your limiting belief systems,” Grey added.

source: people.com