It may very well be four decades since the so-called Brat Pack ran Hollywood, but the memory of the infamous group is alive and well thanks to an upcoming re-release of St. Elmo’s Fire. Celebrating 40 years since Joel Schumacher’s coming-of-age film first graced cinemas, the title is set to make its return to select big screens across North America for a one-week engagement beginning on Friday, October 17. With a cast that includes Ally Sheedy (The Breakfast Club), Judd Nelson (The Breakfast Club), Rob Lowe (The Outsiders), Andrew McCarthy (Pretty in Pink), Mare Winningham (Turner & Hooch), Demi Moore (The Substance) and Emilio Estevez (The Mighty Ducks), the movie is as close as fans will get to seeing a reunion between some of the biggest names of the ‘80s. St. Elmo’s Fire is a story that will hit hard for all those who have — or soon will — enter adulthood. The film centers around seven best friends who are celebrating their graduation from the prestigious Georgetown University. Each has their own cross to bear in terms of facing the “real world,” like Leslie (Sheedy) and Alex (Nelson), who are doing everything they can to hold their failing romantic relationship together, or Wendy (Winningham), who holds a secret flame for Lowe’s Billy — a father and husband who views his future as up in the air. Then there’s Kevin (McCarthy), who unfortunately finds himself lusting after his best friend’s girlfriend, law student Kirbo (Estevez), who can’t help but chase after an older woman who’s stolen his heart, and, finally, Jules (Moore), who tries to ditch her type A tendencies to ride the rollercoaster of life. As they all gather at the titular bar, their worlds unfold, and they try to keep their friendships together. The star-studded project was the third feature-length production to come from Schumacher, who would follow it up with another classic of the decade: The Lost Boys. Fans of superhero flicks will know the director for his wild, iconic, and absolutely bonkers take on the Caped Crusader in his two films, Batman Forever and, perhaps even more notoriously, Batman & Robin, but St. Elmo’s Fire was a much bigger crash-and-burn for the helmer at the box office as well as with critics holding just a 45% critics’ approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Damaging Effects of the Brat Pack Moniker

Back in February, during a panel at MegaCon Orlando that saw several members of The Breakfast Club reunite on stage, Molly Ringwald spoke out about the Brat Pack moniker and how it damaged the careers of the young and talented performers, telling the crowd:
“You know, it was a play on the Rat Pack, which is a group of, [Frank] Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. and those guys. And then it was a term that was coined, I think after this magazine piece, and then we all kind of just sort of fell under this banner and I think it was kind of— in a way, [it] sort of minimized the work that we were doing. That’s the way that I felt.”
St. Elmo’s Fire will return to cinemas across America for one week only beginning October 17.