Derek and Julianne Hough know a classic when they see one.
The Emmy-winning choreographers and dancers are set to star in Step Into…The Movies with Derek and Julianne Hough, a one-hour special event recreating some of the most iconic moments of dance on film on March 20 on ABC.
The sibling tandem, who also serve as executive producers on the project, will use a modern lens to reimagine sequences from some of the most famous movies of all-time, including Singin' In the Rain, Chicago, Dirty Dancing, Saturday Night Fever and more.
Derek and Julianne will be joined by an A-list lineup of guest stars—including Charli D' Amelio, John Stamos and Kevin Bacon—throughout the special. E! News can exclusively reveal the stars' names and which movies they'll have a hand in recreating:
Charli D'Amelio (Dirty Dancing)
Ariana DeBose (Chicago)
Jenna Dewan (Saturday Night Fever)
Harry Shum Jr. (Beauty and the Beast)
Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!)
Tate McRae (La La Land)
Rob Marshall (Chicago)
Kenny Ortega (Dirty Dancing)
Amber Riley (Moulin Rouge!)
John Stamos (La La Land)
It's a roster good enough to make any musical fan do a double take.
Julianne and the recently Oscar-nominated Ariana DeBose will join forces on the iconic "All That Jazz" from Chicago, which also includes a conversation with Rob Marshall, the director of the 2002 Oscar-winning film adaptation.
Derek saved his most of his gushing for Baz Luhrmann, the legendary director of Moulin Rouge!.
"One of his first films was [1992's] Strictly Ballroom," Derek told E! News. "It was about ballroom dancing. It was probably the only movie in the universe about ballroom dancing and that's where he got his start from. And of course, Moulin Rouge!, which we're also going to be doing for the special."
However, in the presence of so many legends, it was a certain social media influencer who came to mind when Derek and Julianne were asked who surprised them the most.
"For me personally, I think Charli D'Amelio," Derek said. "She's this huge TikTok star and she's taking the world by storm with social media. People know her for TikTok dances, but this is different, right? This is, like, it's like Dirty Dancing. I was teaching her how to salsa, to ballroom dance, essentially. And we only had a very little amount of time together. But she was so dedicated."
Julianne echoed the praise for the 17-year-old influencer, who took on the role of Baby from Dirty Dancing.
"When we actually had her on set, it was like, 'Oh, she's still a kid.' You know, we're these old folks over here!" Julianne joked to E! News. "You could see this growth. She really was Baby, where she was kind of learning, kind of shy and a little nervous. And then all the sudden just...Bam, it came alive."
The project was a real labor of love for both Derek and Julianne. While the two have worked on numerous Disney specials in the past, this TV special manages to stand out.
"This has been something Derek and I've been dreaming up for a really long time, to be able to bring these numbers to life, the numbers that actually inspired us to do what we do today," Julianne said. "This really is so magical. We get on set and we're like, 'Hang on, do you feel that, there's something in the air? This is just too amazing.'"
It also provided an opportunity for them to fully embrace the history of cinema, without any restraints.
"It's celebration and homage to all the great dance scenes and dance moments in film," Derek said, "like Dirty Dancing, Saturday Night Fever, Beauty and the Beast, La La Land and Singin' in the Rain. So it's a cumulation of these iconic moments that really have inspired us and we're able to sort of recreate and reimagine them in our own way."
Pulling the entire thing together was a huge undertaking under extremely tight time constraints.
"It's been a task though because we've done this in 10 days," Derek revealed. "Pieces they usually take months to plan and film. And we said, 'Nah we're gonna do it 10 days.' So we're a bit crazy."
Watch it all go down when Step Into…The Movies with Derek and Julianne Hough airs Sunday, March 20 at 10 pm on ABC.