Kenny Ortega has dropped out as director of Paramount’s Footloose remake, starring Gossip Girl’s Crawford and country starlet Julianne Hough, according to Variety.

The High School Musical lensman reportedly left the project after clashing with the studio about budget and tone.

Kenny, who directed the soon-to-be-released Michael Jackson concert film This Is It, allegedly wanted to stage complex musical numbers — which would have cost the studio $30 million. Paramount production chief Adam Goodman, on the other hand, insisted he remake be more dramatic than musical.

The 1984 original starred Kevin Bacon as an city slicker who moves to a rural town where dance has been outlawed by a overzealous local minister. In the process of trying to change the town’s laws, the teen falls in love with the preacher’s daughter.

A new Footloose director is expected to step in promptly to keep the film on track for its June 18 theatrical release