St. Elmo's Fire (film): Difference between revisions

|released = {{startFilm date|1985|6|28}}

Billy and Wendy get drunk together, and Wendy reveals that she is a virgin. They kiss, and Billy, tugging at her clothing, makes fun of her [[Girdle (undergarment)|girdle]]. Wendy insists they remain platonic friends. At St. Elmo's during a [[Halloween]] party, Jules reveals to Leslie that she is having an affair with her married boss. Billy sees his wife Felicia with another man in the crowd and attacks him. Billy is thrown out of the bar but reconciles with his wifeher. The women confront Jules about her affair and reckless spending, but she insists that everything is under control.

Kirby takes a job working for Mr. Kim, a wealthy Korean businessman, and invites Dale to a party at Mr. Kim's house, which he is using without Mr. Kim's permission. Wendy arrives with Howie, an ungainly Jewish boy whom her parents want her to marry. Alec announces that he and Leslie are engaged, upsetting her. She confronts him about her suspicions of his infidelity, and the two break up. Alec accuses Kevin of telling Leslie about the tryst with the lingerie woman. Jules gives Billy a ride home, and Billy makes a pass at her. Furious, Jules orders him out of her car; Billy's wifeFelicia witnesses the confrontation.

Leslie goes to Kevin's apartment to spend the night after the breakup and discovers photographs of her. Kevin confesses his love for her, and the two sleephave togethersex. Alec goes to the apartment to apologize to Kevin and finds Leslie there.

Wendy tells her father that she wants to be independent and move into her own place. Jules has been fired from her job, fallen behind on her credit card payments, and her possessions have been seized. JulesShe locks herself in her apartment and opens the windows, intending to [[Hypothermia|freeze to death]]. Her friends attempt to coax her out, but she is unresponsive. Kirby fetches Billy, who landed a job at a gas station courtesy of Kevin, to calm Jules down. Billy convinces Jules to let him in, and they talk about the challenges of life, overheard by the rest of the gang.

* [[Judd Nelson]] as Alec Newberry, a romantically unfaithful [[yuppie]] pursuing a career in politics

* [[Matthew Laurance]] as Ron Dellasandro, Jules' gayhomosexual neighbor

According to Schumacher, "a lot of people turned down the script...the head of [one] major studio called its seven-member cast ‘the most loathsome humans he had ever read on the page.’"<ref name="Gora2010p87">{{cite book |title= You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried |page= [https://archive.org/details/youcouldntignore00gora/page/87 87] |first=Susannah |last=Gora |url= https://archive.org/details/youcouldntignore00gora |url-access= registration |year= 2010 |isbn= 978-0307408433 |publisher= [[Crown Publishers]]}}</ref> The producers interviewed "hundreds of people" for the cast, including [[Anthony Edwards (actor)|Anthony Edwards]], [[Jon Cryer]] and [[Lea Thompson]].<ref name="Gora2010p88">{{cite book |title= You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried |publisher= Three Rivers Press |page= [https://archive.org/details/youcouldntignore00gora/page/88 88] |first=Susannah |last=Gora |url= https://archive.org/details/youcouldntignore00gora |url-access= registration |year= 2010 |isbn= 9780307408433 }}</ref><ref>https://people.com/jon-cryer-reveals-failed-brat-pack-era-auditions-exclusive-8660881</ref> According to [[Lauren Shuler Donner]], she found Estevez, Nelson, and Sheedy through recommendations from [[John Hughes (filmmaker)|John Hughes]], who had cast them in ''[[The Breakfast Club]]'';<ref name="moguls">{{cite book |title= Movie Moguls Speak |page= 91 |first=Steven |last= Priggé |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=40UTI-uUHpwC&pg=PA91 |year= 2004 |publisher= McFarland |isbn= 0786419296}}</ref> Schumacher said he had to "push hard" to get the studio to agree to cast the three.<ref name="Gora2010p90">{{cite book |title= You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried |publisher= Three Rivers Press |page= [https://archive.org/details/youcouldntignore00gora/page/90 90] |first=Susannah |last=Gora |url= https://archive.org/details/youcouldntignore00gora |url-access= registration |year= 2010 |isbn= 9780307408433 }}</ref> Demi Moore had to go to rehab before shooting.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/65555/15-burning-facts-about-st-elmos-fire |title=Facts about St. Elmo's Fire |last=Cormier |first=Roger |date=June 28, 2015 |access-date=July 17, 2017}}</ref>

The theme song "[[St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)]]" was written by Foster and English musician [[John Parr]], and also performed by Parr. Foster had been impressed by Parr's song "[[Naughty Naughty (John Parr song)|Naughty Naughty]]" and invited him to perform the title track. Originally another song was chosen which Parr disliked. "That song sounded like ''Fame II'' or ''Flashdance II''{{' "}}, said Parr later said. "I thought the movie was supposed to have more class than that. It was a regurgitated song, and I didn't really want to sing it."<ref name="parr"/>

Parr urged Foster to try another song. They wrote it together, "very fast, between 2 and 4 on Friday afternoon," Parr recalled. "We wrote it, together, with David sitting at the piano." Schumacher had given Parr rough guidelines for the lyrics. "He wanted a song about determination," Parr recalled. "He wanted a song about kids who are growing up and have to make decisions about what to do with their lives. That's what the movie is about." Schumacher told them not to use "St. Elmo's Fire" in the lyrics, but Parr did it, regardless. "I thought it fit in the song," he said. "In the movie, St. Elmo's is a bar. But to me, ''St. Elmo's Fire'' is a magical thing glowing in the sky that holds destiny to someone. It's mystical and sacred. It's where paradise lies, like the end of the rainbow."<ref name="parr">`FIRE' PUTS JOHN PARR ON THE FRONT BURNER: [Home Edition]

Parr was inspired to write the lyrics not by the movie (which he had not seen) but by the Canadian athlete [[Rick Hansen]], who, at the time, was traveling around the world, via his wheelchair, to raise awareness for [[spinal cord]] injuries, a trip called the "Man in Motion Tour".<ref>{{cite web|title=John Parr Rewrites 'St. Elmo's Fire' As Valentine To Tebow|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/01/12/145125439/john-parr-writes-tim-tebows-fire-spoof|website=npr.org|access-date=May 11, 2015}}</ref> The song did not appear on any Parr album until ''Letter to America'' was released in July 2011.

The song "Give Her a Little Drop More",” which plays during the movie when the characters enter St. Elmo's Bar & Restaurant, was written by [[British people|British]] jazz trumpeter [[John Chilton]].

In August 2009, [[Sony Pictures Television]] received a "script commitment with a penalty attached to it" to adapt the film into a television series, which would "use the movie as a takeoff point and as an inspiration as it introduces six new friends: three boys and three girls."<ref name="backstage">{{cite web |title='St. Elmo's Fire' Headed to TV |url= http://www.backstage.com/news/st-elmos-fire-headed-to-tv/ |date=August 14, 2009 |first= Nellie |last=Andreeva |work= backstage.com |access-date= August 26, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Joyce |last=Eng |title=''St. Elmo's Fire'' TV Series Heats Up at ABC |url=http://www.tvguide.com/News/St-Elmos-TV-1008982.aspx |work=TVGuide.com |date=August 14, 2009 |access-date=2009-08-14}}</ref> [[Topher Grace]] and Gordon Kaywin of Sargent Hall Productions proposed the idea to [[Jamie Tarses]]; the three of them then recruited [[Dan Bucatinsky]] to write the pilot and got Schumacher to agreeagreed to the ideaconcept.<ref name="backstage"/> After remaining in [[development hell]] by August 2019, it was reported that [[NBC]] was developing a television series with Josh Berman attached as writer and executive producer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/st-elmos-fire-series-nbc-1203302616/|title='St. Elmo's Fire' Series in Development at NBC |work=Variety|first=Joe|last=Otterson|date=August 14, 2019|access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref>