A new "Fame" is coming. Will it live forever?

The original cast of Fame takes over NYC. Carnage ensues.

After years of lingering in pre-production limbo, the long-awaited remake of Fame will finally start filming next month.

As with the original, released in 1980, this Fame 2.0 revolves around a group of young students at the High School for the Performing Arts in NYC. An it'll be interesting to see how closely they follow the first movie and its roster of arty kids.

Like all overly-dramatic teenagers, they insisted on making big production numbers out of everything, even lunch. They also struggled with the usual teenager problems, and for the unfortunately named Montgomery MacNeil (Paul McCrane), that meant coming to terms with his sexuality. He was the film's only gay character, and as such, was obliged to have a tortured soul before eventually gaining a more positive outlook.

In the cast of the new film, there's a character listed as a "gay dancer" named Kevin (Paul McGill) (baby ... remember that name). Will he be defined by his sexuality, or will it be just another part of his personality? And more importantly, if the new movie goes to series like the original, will he be de-gayed again?

Speaking of "de-gayed", former Heroes star Thomas Dekker is in negotiations to play one of the lead roles. No word on what the character is like, but we can probably assume he'll be straight.

What do you think? Is a Fame updating a good idea, or has the evil juggernaut known as High School Musical rendered it moot?