‘Dirty Dancing’ Game Launching on Facebook

Lionsgate will try to monetize the film’s 10.9 million fans by allowing them to build their own resorts and host dance competitions

Now Facebook users can put baby in a corner.

Lionsgate is teaming up with the social media giant to create a new game based on the classic movie "Dirty Dancing," the companies announced on Tuesday. 

Last May, TheWrap first broke the news that the studio was planning to capitalize on the 1987 romantic drama's strong Facebook presence by creating an online game.

The Facebook fan page for "Dirty Dancing" has been an unexpected phenomenon for the studio, garnering over 10.9 million fans.

Also read: Lionsgate's Surprise Social Media Star: 'Dirty Dancing' and Its 9.4M Friends

The page hovered at about 700,000 fans in 2009. But  the death of star Patrick Swayze that year, followed by co-star Jennifer Grey's popular stint on "Dancing With the Stars," saw the page's popularity balloon. It is now the ninth most popular movie fan page on Facebook. 

To try to monetize all those eyeballs, the studio turned to Toronto-based Social Game Universe to build an interactive experience set in a digital Catskills vacation spot. 

The studio says that players will join the characters to build their own resorts, provide guests with  activities and dances, spread romance, sample music from the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack and generally have the time of their lives. 

To create their resorts, players can use the game’s watermelon currency to purchase virtual items like tennis courts and decorate with everything from hedges to jukeboxes.

In addition, they must host dance shows — the most successful of which will generate "romance waves," which will help restore luster to their mountain getaways. 

If it's a hit with fans, it may pave the way for other games based on Lionsgate titles such as "Rambo" and "Terminator 2," movies that also claim robust Facebook presences. 

When it comes to "Dirty Dancing," Lionsgate won't stop with Facebook. It announced last month that it will remake the film.

The new "Dirty Dancing" will hit theaters in 2013 and will be directed by Kenny Ortega, the choreographer of the original movie and director of "High School Musical."

 

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