If legendary snoozer Rip Van Winkle went to sleep in the spring of 1982 and woke up today, his beard might have stretched a hundred nasty, matted yards, but he’d probably think he had taken only a power nap: “Mad Max” is going post-apocalyptic in movie theaters. “Poltergeist” is poised to scare up business at the box office. And Jerry Brown is governor of California.
OK, the new Mad Max is called “Fury Road,” not “Road Warrior,” and Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron star, not Mel Gibson. The original “Poltergeist,” which opened in June 1982, was the eighth-biggest movie of the year, an evil spirits fright fest co-scripted and co-produced by Steven Spielberg. The reboot, with Spielberg getting story credit, opened Friday. Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt are the spooked spouses with the daughter who gets sucked into the TV. Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams had the honors — and the horrors — back in the day.
“Back in the day” could be the Hollywood mantra right now. “Annie” came out in 1982, one of the top-10 moneymakers of the year, and “Annie” came out in very late 2014, kerplunking badly at the box office in early 2015. The original “Star Wars” (1977) and its sequel, “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980), were both re-released in theaters in 1982. On Dec. 18, J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens” heads back to that far, far-away galaxy, all but certain to reawaken the franchise. Getting a jump on things: Han Solo and Chewbacca share the cover of June’s Vanity Fair with a couple of the reboot’s young upstarts.
Another classic sci-fi saga starring Harrison Ford — Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner,” from June 1982 — is getting a Scott-produced sequel. Ryan Gosling will star; Ford will be back; shooting is slated for next summer, a 2017 release. And “Tron 3,” a sequel to 2010’s “Tron: Legacy,” in turn a sequel to 1982’s “Tron,” is in pre-production. Legacy’s Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde are set to return.