St. Elmo’s Fire has been picked up for a pilot order by NBC for a television adaptation/remake of sorts. The coming of age dramedy has been described as “a modern take on the Brat Pack film, which will focus on a group of close friends struggling with their careers, commitment and the responsibilities of adulthood.”
That very same infamous Brat Pack included cast members: Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson and Mare Winningham, who all attempted to deal with the increasing responsibilities of adulthood.
All recent Georgetown University graduates, the film followed seven friends’ lives —Alec, Billy, Jules, Kevin, Kirby, Leslie and Wendy. Alec (Judd Nelson) aspires to be a politician with a strong supporter base, but fails to be loyal to either party: Democrat or Republican.
His girlfriend Leslie (Ally Sheedy), struggles with the idea of marriage and is an up and coming architect with a strong independent streak. She desires to make a name for herself, but sees marriage as a roadblock to her success in her future career. Both live together despite big differences in their values.
Their friend Kirby (Emilio Estevez), works tirelessly at becoming a lawyer, while he earns his tuition money by working as a waiter at the group’s favorite bar St. Elmo’s Bar. His roommate Kevin (Andrew McCarthy) struggles as a writer and tries to give advice on Kirby’s romantic life after he runs into an old classmate. Both struggle with their respective dating woes.
Billy (Rob Lowe) is married with children, but still tries to live out his fraternity days by sleeping around and playing the sax in favor of spending quality time with his family. He remains tragically stuck in the past despite having the most stable life amongst his friends.
Duo Wendy (Mare Winningham) and Jules (Demi Moore), both struggle to break out of their complacency and bad habits, yet fail miserably each time. Wendy is in love with Billy and suffers from his and her own wealthy family’s manipulations, while Jules continues to struggle financially due to her spending habits.
Josh Berman, known for Drop Dead Diva, is currently attached to write and executive-produce the nascent series and will be the second creative to attempt an adaptation—the first one being a previous attempt back in 2009 from the ABC network that never came to fruition.
At the time, Sony Pictures Television received a script commitment with a penalty attached that would allow the film to be adapted into a television series, ultimately using the movie as a blue print of sorts for inspiration. However, instead six new friends (three boys and three girls) were included in the bunch. Topher Grace and Gordon Kaywin of Sargent Hall Productions were both originally attached to produce the 2009 series in partnership with Jamie Tarses.