CENTER STAGE Turns 25: A Look Back at the Beloved Dance Film

25 years ago today saw the release of Center Stage, the dance movie featuring Amanda Schull and Zoe Saldãna, along with Broadway alums such as Donna Murphy, Peter Gallagher, and Debra Monk.

The film follows a group of New York City ballet students working within the competitive world of professional dance, where they must devote themselves to their art with the rigor of Olympic athletes. While experiencing the joys, sorrows, and conflicts of youth, they vie for a place in the prestigious American Ballet Academy and strive to take center stage.

Led by Schull as Jody Sawyer, the movie also featured a slew of real-life professional dancers such as Ethan Stiefel and Sascha Radetsky, both of whom were principals with the American Ballet Company. It also served as Saldaña's film debut, whose career has grown to great success with the Avatar films, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and much more. The film went on to inspire two sequels, Center Stage: Turn It Up and Center Stage: On Pointe- neither of which starred Schull.

During the making of the 2000 movie, Entertainment Tonight sat down with the cast to discuss the movie and capture footage from its production. Watch the throwback video, featuring interviews with Schill, Saldãna, Broadway's Peter Gallagher, and more. 

Last November, Schull was asked by a New York Post reporter if there is a world in which the fan-favorite franchise could return, with a reboot or sequel in the future. “There is a world," Schull told the Post. "There is a world, yes.”

The dancer didn't expand on any specific possibilities, but last month, took to Instagram to reflect and share her thoughts on the project 25 years later. "This film continues to be a gift in a myriad of ways I cannot express and could not have imagined a quarter century (!) ago," she said. Take a look at her full post below!

In 2020, it was reported that a follow-up television series was in the works from Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and Sony Pictures Television. The series was set to be a continuation of the original film (it is unclear if the sequels would have been ignored), following a new set of dancers at New York City's American Ballet Academy. No official status on the production has been given since the initial announcement. Watch a clip from the film below.