Image via Columbia Pictures
Published Sep 29, 2026, 8:30 PM EDT
In over three years at Collider, senior author Jake has now penned over 3000 articles covering a wide range of TV and film for the resources, lists, utilities, news, and interview teams. Alongside interviewing stars such as Selin Hizli, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Harlan Coben, and Chelsea Peretti, Jake was lucky enough to visit the set of Aardman and Netflix's Wallace and Gromit: A Vengeance Most Fowl in 2024, getting the chance to chat with four-time Academy Award winner Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham. Jake has also worked for other publications, including Agents of Fandom. You can also hear Jake every week as the resident film and TV journalist on Track Radio.
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The legacy sequel is now a regular part of the theatrical circuit. Last month, the brilliant Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock reprised their roles as Gillian and Sally Owens in Practical Magic 2, which finally debuted on the big screen almost three decades after the first installment. Alas, the film has yet to make enough money to be considered a financial success, still short of the $100 million mark on a $75 million budget. Reviews for the film were lukewarm too, with most seeing it as a disappointing cash-grab in the era of legacy sequels.
But that shouldn't dampen spirits around other legacy sequel projects, with most seeming to succeed. Another that has been in very early works since 2024 is the long-awaited return of Rob Lowe and co in St. Elmo's Fire. Directed by Joel Schumacher, this 1985 gem was a particularly mature entry from the Brat Pack, a group that also made the likes of The Breakfast Club, The Outsiders, and Pretty in Pink. The cast for St. Elmo's Fire was stacked with talent, including Lowe, Landman star Demi Moore, Andrew McCarthy, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, and Emilio Estevez.
Whispers of a St. Elmo's Fire 2 have circulated for some time, but, as Lowe previously admitted, talks were in "very, very, very, very, very early stages." However, thanks to Lowe's appearance on Watch What Happens Live on Sunday, we now know just how close we are to another meeting with those Georgetown University graduates. "It is definitely in the works, for sure," Lowe confirmed when asked about the project's status. "All of us actors want to do it, and we’re supposed to get a draft of the script the first week of October," he added, suggesting that St. Elmo's Fire might not actually be that far away.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Iconic Fandom Should You Join? Harry Potter · Lord of the Rings · Star Wars · Star Trek
Eight honest questions about how you actually are: what you put on when you need cheering up, how deep you go into the things you love, what you argue about, what you keep on your shelf. Answer them and we will tell you where you belong. Four of the biggest fandoms on earth are taking new members, and they could not be more different from one another.
⚡Harry Potter(Wizarding World)
💍Lord of the Rings(Middle-earth)
⚔️Star Wars(A Galaxy Far Away)
🖖Star Trek(The Final Frontier)
FIND YOUR PEOPLE →
01
What do you put on when you need cheering up? Nobody is brave about this one.
AThe same thing I have watched a hundred times. BSomething long, slow and beautiful. CSomething big and loud with a great score. DOne clever episode of something hopeful.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
How deep do you go into something you love? There is no shallow end here, only different deep ends.
AI know every character and all the gossip. BI have read the appendices and studied the maps. CI have a ranked opinion on every instalment. DI want to know how the world actually works.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
What do you and your friends actually argue about? Every fandom has one argument it has been having for years.
AWhich one of us is which type. BWhether the adaptation got it right. CWhether the new stuff ruined the old stuff. DWhether the right thing was actually done.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
How do you feel about a room full of strangers? Every one of these comes with a very big room.
AGreat, and I will know everybody by the end. BFine, as long as they take it seriously. CBrilliant, especially if there is something to dress up for. DHappy, provided the conversation is interesting.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
Where would you rather spend a week? Pick on instinct rather than on budget.
AAn old castle somewhere rainy. BMountains, long walks, no phone signal. CA desert with an unbelievable night sky. DA city built around a university.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
What do you believe about people, mostly? All four of these stories have an answer, and they disagree.
AMost of them turn out better than expected. BThe smallest ones decide the biggest things. CAnybody can change, even very late on. DWe work it out if we keep talking.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
What is actually on your shelf? Look over at it before you answer.
AEverything I owned when I was twelve. BHardbacks, in order, read more than once. CFigures, posters, and a few things still boxed. DBooks about how things work, plus a model or two.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
What do you actually want from a story? Eight questions in, this is the one that picks your fandom.
AA place I can go back to whenever I need it. BA world complete enough to get lost in. CSomething huge I can share with everybody. DAn idea that changes how I think.
REVEAL MY FANDOM →
Membership Confirmed Your Fandom Is…
Four of the largest communities on the planet, and four completely different reasons to belong to one. Here is yours, what it would give you, and the argument you would be having within a week.
Harry Potter
You belong to the fandom that is really about comfort. Hogwarts works on people because it is a place rather than a plot, and the pull is not the wizard war so much as the corridors, the food, the weather and the sense that somebody is expecting you.
- You are drawn to belonging, which is why this fandom sorted itself into houses within about five minutes and has never stopped.
- This is the most social of the four, and the one most likely to know which type every single person in your life would be.
- The books are built to be reread rather than analysed, and rereading is exactly what you do with things you love.
- The new HBO series is bringing the whole thing back one book at a time, which means the arguments are about to start all over again.
Lord of the Rings
You belong to the deepest fandom on this list, the one where somebody has always read further than you and is quietly delighted to say so. Middle-earth rewards patience more than any other world in popular culture.
- You like the sense that the story you are reading is only the visible part of something enormous, which is precisely how Tolkien built it.
- This fandom takes adaptation seriously to a degree that other fandoms find slightly alarming, and it has good reasons for that.
- Your favourite thing about the books is probably the bit that is not action at all, which is the walking, the songs and the long goodbyes.
- Nobody here thinks heroism belongs to the powerful, and the whole story exists to make that argument.
Star Wars
You belong to the loudest and largest tent of the four, the one where three generations are all watching the same thing and none of them agree about any of it. That disagreement is not a flaw in this fandom, it is the main activity.
- You want something you can share with absolutely everybody, from a six year old to a grandparent, and this is the only one on the list that really does that.
- Nobody argues like Star Wars fans argue, and the argument has been running since roughly 1980 with no sign of resolution.
- The pull here is sensory before it is narrative, since it is the sound design, the score and the look of a used and dented galaxy.
- You would be first in the queue, in costume, with strong opinions and a genuinely good time.
Star Trek
You belong to the thinking fandom, the one that turns up for the argument rather than the explosion. Trek has always been a series of ethical problems in space, and the people who love it love being asked what they would have done.
- You are an optimist in a way that is currently unfashionable, and this is the only major franchise still willing to say the future might be better.
- The best episodes are the ones where nobody fires anything, which is a sentence that makes perfect sense to this fandom and to nobody else.
- Starfleet Academy brought the franchise back to a classroom in 2026, which is appropriate, because Trek has always been a bit of a seminar.
- You would want the conversation afterwards more than the episode itself, and here you will always find somebody willing to have it.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
Was 'St. Elmo's Fire' a Success?
Sure, over four decades later, St. Elmo's Fire is appreciated as an important entry into a beloved era of coming-of-age filmmaking. But how was it received at the time? The film was, at least, a box office hit, scoring a strong $37.8 million haul against a $10 million budget, almost entirely from domestic screenings. Sadly, the film was met with a mixed reception from critics, although opinions have since changed drastically.
For more updates, make sure to stay tuned to Collider.
Release Date June 28, 1985
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Andrew McCarthy
Kevin Dolenz
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