andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

High School Musical director Kenny Ortega has stepped down as director of the planned remake of Footloose, citing issues with the tone and budget of the film, reports E! News. This comes after Zac Efron also bailed on the project.

Ortega’s latest endeavour, This is It, a behind-the-scenes concert film about the late Michael Jackson, hits North American theatres Wednesday.

“Coming off of the extraordinary project, Michael Jackson’s This is It, director Kenny Ortega has decided it is premature for him to commit to his next film and will not be moving forward with Footloose as previously reported,” Paramount Pictures said in a statement.

The film will star Chace Crawford and Julianne Hough, and is still planned to begin production in March.

Julianne Hough won’t return to “Dancing With the Stars” next season, opting instead to concentrate on her fledgling country music career.

The professional dancer told Ryan Seacrest on his radio show Thursday that she “really, really want[s] to focus on the music and, you know, kind of be taken seriously a little bit.”

Hough, 20, and her celebrity partners have won two of the four seasons she has appeared on ABC’s dance competition show.

She and “Hannah Montana” actor Cody Linley were eliminated on Tuesday from this season’s contest, one which saw Hough undergo appendectomy surgery last month.

Hough has already released two albums — a self-titled country album earlier this year and a Christmas album that recently hit stores.