Rob Lowe Says ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ Sequel Is in ‘Early Stages’
Rob Lowe says a sequel to St. Elmo’s Fire is in the works.
Lowe, 60, teased the project during an interview with Entertainment Tonight on Monday, July 29.
"We've met with the studio and I have been talking about doing it for about four months," the actor revealed of plans for a potential follow-up. St. Elmo’s Fire, released in 1985, showcased Lowe and fellow Brat Packers Andrew McCarthy, Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy and Judd Nelson as college graduates navigating the ups and downs of young adulthood. Lowe, then in his 20s and at the height of his heartthrob powers, sported a mullet and chiseled jawline to play troubled saxophonist Billy Hicks.
In June, McCarthy, who played broody writer Kevin Dolenz, released the Hulu documentary Brats, about his difficulties coping with the “Brat Pack” label coined by New York magazine journalist David Blum the year that St. Elmo’s Fire hit theaters. While McCarthy, 61, blames Blum for stalling his acting career, Lowe — who appears briefly in the doc — has come to embrace his legacy within the Brat Pack, a group of actors who embodied 1980s youth culture and starred in beloved coming-of-age movies from The Breakfast Club to Pretty in Pink.
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As for a potential St. Elmo’s Fire sequel, Lowe told Entertainment Tonight that the buzz around Brats has "only added to the excitement around it."
"But it's very, very, very, very, very early stages," he said. "So we will see."
For now, Lowe is on a press tour with his son, John Owen Lowe, as they prepare for the second season of their Netflix comedy Unstable, which is set to premiere on Thursday, August 1. (John Owen, 29, has never seen St. Elmo’s Fire and calls it “St. Elmers.”)
In John Owen's July 25 appearance on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy, he detailed his “mental breakdown” two weeks into filming the first season of the show.
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“I walked off set and I went into my trailer, and I went, ‘Oh s—t. I was trying to become my own person and get distance away from him and I am now his costar. My face is next to his on a one-sheet and I’ll be doing press with him,’” he recalled. “It was like all these realizations dawned on me and I remember calling my representatives, which is so funny.”
John Owen said his reps advised him to “chill out” because Unstable would be a good thing. He and his dad portray the fictional father-son duo Ellis and Jackson Dragon, parodying their real-life dynamic. (Lowe and wife Sheryl Berkoff share John Owen and his older brother, Matthew Lowe, 31, whom Lowe dubs his “civilian son.”)
Lowe and Berkoff, 63, a makeup artist, have been happily married for three decades — a rarity in Hollywood — and were rumored to have been introduced in 1983 by Lowe’s Brat Pack buddy Estevez, 62. In honor of their 33rd wedding anniversary on July 22, Lowe posted a sweet tribute to Berkhoff on Instagram.
“My Love Bug has given me 33 years of love, passion and understanding,” he wrote alongside a silly selfie of her. “Add a couple of great young men and I’m unbelievably blessed. Happy Anniversary, baby! Xoxox.”