Dancing inmates who became YouTube sensation inspire prison film

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino inmates whose choreographed “Thriller” dance has attracted 52 million YouTube hits since 2007 are getting their own stories told in a movie.

Director Marnie Manicad says the action drama “Dance of the Steel Bars” was shot in the Cebu provincial prison, the same place where the inmates dressed in orange uniforms danced to global fame.

It stars Irish actor Patrick Bergin, who played Julia Roberts’ husband in “Sleeping with the Enemy,” and Filipino heartthrob Dingdong Dantes.

The Dubai-based producer, Portfolio Productions, says the fictional redemption story follows Bergin’s character, a retired U.S. firefighter and philanthropist wrongly jailed for murder in the Philippines. He befriends Filipino dancing inmates who struggle with a corrupt prison system.

Manicad co-directed the movie with Cesar Apolinario. It will be released in June.