Rob Lowe gives 'St. Elmo's Fire' sequel update 40 years after original
Don’t ever let the fire go out.
Rob Lowe has provided a surprising update about a “St. Elmo’s Fire” sequel nearly 40 years after the original movie premiered in June 1985.
“We’re working on the script, and it’s really getting good,” Lowe, 61, told People in an interview published Sunday, June 29.
“I think it’s super valid to revisit those characters that continue to mean a lot to people and watch them navigate this chapter of life,” he continued, “because arguably this chapter of life is every bit as interesting and fraught as – ‘What do I do when I get out of college?’”
The original film, which was released on June 28, 1985, and directed by Joel Schumacher, followed a group of recent Georgetown University graduates as they navigated life after college in their early 20s.
Besides Lowe, who starred as Billy Hicks, the Brat Pack classic also featured Emilio Estevez (Kirby Keger), Andrew McCarthy (Kevin Dolenz), Demi Moore (Jules Van Patten), Judd Nelson (Alec Newbury), Andie MacDowell (Dale Bieberman) and Ally Sheedy (Leslie Hunter).
Interest in a “St. Elmo’s Fire” sequel reportedly started last year after McCarthy released his documentary “Brats,” which saw several of the ’80s stars reunite to discuss their experiences as members of the so-called Brat Pack.
Lowe said that the documentary “only added to the excitement around” a “St. Elmo’s Fire” sequel, and he later claimed that one was in the “very early stages,” although he couldn’t make any promises about whether it would pan out.
“We’ve met with the studio and I have been talking about doing it for about four months,” he told Entertainment Tonight last year. “But it’s very, very, very, very, very early stages. So we will see.”
Then, earlier this year, the “West Wing” alum suggested that a “St. Elmo’s Fire” sequel was potentially in development at Sony Pictures.
“We’re putting together ‘St. Elmo’s Fire 2.’ So we’re back working together. We’re gonna see what those people are doing at our age now. This is a real thing,” Lowe said during “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in February.
“I know. It’s great. It sounds like it could be a bit, but you’d also go, ‘Wait a minute, I’d see that,'” he continued at the time. “When we did the original, we were on the cover of Rolling Stone. Now we’ll be on the cover of AARP, but it’s still gonna be great.”
He also claimed that “everybody” from the original film was “on board” during an episode of his “Literally with Rob Lowe” podcast in March.
“The script has to come in and we all have to like it, but everybody wants to do it,” Lowe said. “Everybody’s on board.”
However, others have cast doubt on a “St. Elmo’s Fire” sequel.
Producer Adam Fields, who worked on other Brat Pack flicks like “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club,” questioned how Lowe and the others would go about making the sequel more than four decades after the original.
“I haven’t read [the script], and I don’t know what their approach is,” Fields told The Post in February.
“I mean, I feel like most of these movies were a moment in time, and they reflected a moment in time, so I don’t know how they can do anything,” he added.