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30 years ago - November 8, 1985

Target
Gene Hackman and Matt Dillon star as father and son who are drawn into a life-or-death chase in Europe when Hackman’s wife is kidnapped and his secret past is exposed. Director Arthur Penn was best known for the violence in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde; he had also directed Hackman in the 1975 thriller Night Moves. Reviews were moderately appreciative of the action. Target opened at #2 behind last week’s Death Wish 3 with $2.6 million from 1,085 theaters. It earned $9.0 million during its run.

Transylvania 6-5000
Jeff Goldblum and Ed Begley, Jr. star in this comedy about a contemporary trek to search out Frankenstein’s monster. Geena Davis is in the cast as a vampire, two years before she and Goldblum were married. Writer/Director Rudy De Luca had also written the Mel Brooks movies Silent Movie and High Anxiety. Reviews of Transylvania 6-5000 were not good, and it opened at #5 behind last week’s To Live and Die in L.A., with $2.5 million from 701 theaters. It eventually earned $7.1 million.

That Was Then… This is Now
This sequel to 1983’s The Outsiders was written by Emilio Estevez (his first produced screenplay), who stars as a teenager who gets into trouble. Estevez had appeared in the The Outsiders as a Greaser named Two-Bit Matthews, but plays a character named Mark Jennings in this movie. Craig Sheffer and Kim Delaney co-star, with Morgan Freeman in the cast before he became prominent in the late 1980s. Where The Outsiders was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, this movie was directed by Christopher Cain; he’d later direct Estevez again in Young Guns in 1988. That Was Then… opened at #6 with $2.5 million at 800 theaters - half that of The Outsiders opening - and eventually earned a third of The Outsiders’ $25 million gross.

Bring on the Night
With the end of the Synchronicity tour in early 1984 The Police were effectively done as a band, allowing Sting to launch his solo career. His next band featured jazz musicians and backup singers. Director Michael Apted followed the rehearsal and performances of the songs for Sting’s first album, The Dream of the Blue Turtles, which was released in June of 1985. By the release of this documentary, the album had released four singles, with “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free” reaching #3 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart. The album reached #2 on the Billboard 200, and was nominated for four Grammys. The documentary opened at #11 in theaters on 409 screens and eventually earned $1.9 million. The film later won the Grammy for Best Music Video - Long Form, and a live album of the music was released in the summer of 1986, later earning a Grammy win for Best Pop Vocal Performance.

Come back next week for another installment of Marquee History!

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