The Breakfast Club, American coming-of-age comedy-drama film, released in 1985, that was written and directed by John Hughes. It stars Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy. The movie centers on five high-school students, seemingly with nothing in common, who are forced to spend an all-day detention together in their school library.
Hughes had written the script in 1982, and began casting for the film after the release of Sixteen Candles (1984). Filming took place from March to May 1984, and the entire film was shot at Maine North High School in Des Plaines, Illinois.
Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall both starred in Hughes’s 1984 film Sixteen Candles. Towards the end of filming, Hughes asked them to be in The Breakfast Club. Hall became the first to be cast, agreeing to the role of Brian Johnson; his real-life mother and sister played his character’s mother and sister in the film. Ringwald was originally approached to play the character of Allison Reynolds, but she was “really upset” because she wanted to play Claire Standish (then named “Cathy” in the first draft of the script), which saw the auditions of Robin Wright, Jodie Foster, Diane Lane and Laura Dern. She eventually convinced Hughes and the studio to give her the part. The role of Allison ultimately went to Ally Sheedy.
Emilio Estevez was originally cast in the role of John Bender, but when Hughes was unable to find someone to play Andrew Clark, Estevez was recast. Nicolas Cage was considered for the role of John Bender, which was the last role to be cast. Alan Ruck also auditioned for the role, but the choice was narrowed down to John Cusack and Judd Nelson. Hughes originally cast Cusack, but decided to replace him with Nelson before shooting began, because Cusack did not look intimidating enough for the role. At one point, Hughes was disappointed in Nelson because he stayed in character and harassed Ringwald off-camera; the other actors had to convince Hughes to not fire him. Rick Moranis was originally cast as the janitor but was released by Ned Tanen, the film’s producer, who felt that Moranis’ portrayal as an over-the-top Russian caricature didn’t suit the serious nature of the film. Moranis was replaced by John Kapelos.
In 1999, Hughes said that his request to direct the film met with resistance and skepticism because he lacked filmmaking experience. He ultimately convinced the film’s investors that due to the modest $1 million budget and its single-location shoot, he could greatly minimize their risk. Hughes originally thought that The Breakfast Club would be his directorial debut. He opted for an insular, largely one-room set and wrote about high school students, who would be played by younger actors.
The film premiered in Los Angeles on February 7, 1985, and was theatrically released by Universal Pictures on February 15, 1985. It grossed $51.5 million against a $1 million budget, and earned acclaim from critics, who consider it to be one of Hughes’s most memorable and recognized works. The media subsequently referred to the film’s five main actors as members of a group called the “Brat Pack.” The Breakfast Club has been considered as one of the best films of the 1980s, and one of the best teen films of all time.
