Artisan, Miramax lighting 'Havana'

Ferland-directed sequel starring Luna, Garai

By DAVID ROONEY

Artisan Entertainment and Miramax Films have completed the principal cast and announced the start of shooting March 18 in Puerto Rico on long-in-the-works sequel "Havana Nights: Dirty Dancing 2."

Directed by Guy Ferland and produced by Lawrence Bender, with Sarah Green serving as exec producer, the pic was inspired by 1987 hit "Dirty Dancing," which generated more than $250 million in worldwide theatrical revenue and remains the top-selling entry in Artisan's 6,700-title library.

Previously announced leads are Mexican thesp Diego Luna ("Y tu mama tambien") and newcomer Romola Garai ("Nicholas Nickleby"). Set in 1958 Cuba, story concerns an American girl who moves with her family to the revolution-era capital and falls hard for a local dancer.

Ward tapped

Sela Ward will play a ballroom dancer and the mother of Garai's character.

Other key roles will be played by John Slattery ("Traffic"), Mika Boorem ("Blue Crush"), Jonathan Jackson ("Insomnia"), January Jones ("Anger Management") and Cuban thesp Rene Lavan.

Artisan and Miramax are co-financing and co-producing the pic, which Artisan will release domestically next year Feb. 13, on Valentine's Day weekend, with international distribution through Buena Vista Intl.

Plans to do a sequel first surfaced in 1996 and have gone through several incarnations including a location shift to Miami's South Beach before settling on the final Latin-flavored formula. Original pic starred Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.