The Future Was Now
Madmen, Mavericks, and the Epic Sci-Fi Summer of 1982
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4.6 • 5 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
“Hollywood boldly went where it hadn’t gone before and Nashawaty chronicles the journeys.” —Los Angeles Times ("Books You Need To Read This Summer")
“Written with a fan’s enthusiasm . . . An important inflection point in Hollywood filmmaking.” —New York Times ("Nonfiction Books to Read This Summer")
In the summer of 1982, eight science fiction films were released within six weeks of one another. E.T., Tron, Star Trek: Wrath of Khan, Conan the Barbarian, Blade Runner, Poltergeist, The Thing, and Mad Max: The Road Warrior changed the careers of some of Hollywood's now biggest names—altering the art of movie-making to this day.
In The Future Was Now, Chris Nashawaty recounts the riotous genesis of these films, featuring an all-star cast of Hollywood luminaries and gadflies alike: Steven Spielberg, at the height of his powers, conceives E.T. as an unlikely family tale, and quietly takes over the troubled production of Poltergeist, a horror film he had been nurturing for years. Ridley Scott, fresh off the success of Alien, tries his hand at an odd Philip K. Dick story that becomes Blade Runner—a box office failure turned cult classic. Similar stories arise for films like Tron, Conan the Barbarian, and The Thing. Taken as a whole, these films show a precarious turning-point in Hollywood history, when baffled film executives finally began to understand the potential of high-concept films with a rabid fanbase, merchandising potential, and endless possible sequels.
Expertly researched, energetically told, and written with an unabashed love for the cinema, The Future Was Now is a chronicle of how the revolution sparked in a galaxy far, far away finally took root and changed Hollywood forever.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Most film histories mark the start of the blockbuster era in the mid-’70s with the success of Jaws and Star Wars. But the real experts know that a two-month period in early summer 1982 created the fan-culture-centered entertainment universe we’re living in today. Eight different science fiction and fantasy movies, from Steven Spielberg’s family-friendly blockbuster E.T. to Ridley Scott’s poetic noir flop Blade Runner, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s pulpy Conan the Barbarian to gonzo Australian freak-out The Road Warrior, came out then. Not all were critical or box office successes, but entertainment journalist Chris Nashawaty will convince you that all of them were hugely important. (Yes, even Tron.) Nashawaty’s breezy writing style is as fun as the films themselves, and there’s plenty of eyebrow-raising gossip (like: Paramount execs hadn’t actually read the script for Star Trek II and were livid about the ending). A fast-paced read for movie fans of any generation, The Future Was Now is a blast.
