The recent passing of acclaimed filmmaker Rob Reiner has brought the stars of his beloved coming-of-age classic, Stand by Me, closer together as the film approaches its 40th anniversary.
Just a week before Reiner’s death in December, Jerry O’Connell, Corey Feldman, and Wil Wheaton had reunited for a series of screenings, reflecting on their formative experiences during the 1985 summer shoot in Oregon. The trio found solace in their shared history, with Feldman telling The Associated Press in a group Zoom, he was “very grateful to be back with my bros.”
“We’ve stayed in touch loosely through the years and we’ve gotten together here and there,” Feldman explained. “But there’s never been a time that the three of us just hung out … it was like a high school reunion, but only for three people that really got it.”
This reunion was merely the beginning of a planned multi-city tour, but the news of Reiner’s death soon followed, solidifying their bond. Wheaton articulated the profound impact, stating, “My first thought was, ‘I am so glad that I have a place to land with my grief.’ There’s not a lot of other people in the world who really know what this feels like.”
The actors have navigated such profound loss before, having mourned their co-star River Phoenix, who died in 1993. At a 25th-anniversary screening, Reiner himself had remarked that it “feels like there should be a chair here for River.” In this spirit, O’Connell, Feldman, and Wheaton resolved to honour the filmmaker who not only shaped their lives but also provided them with an experience they have been chasing ever since.
“We know how much Rob loved Stand by Me. We know what it meant to him,” Wheaton said. “It never occurred to me to just shelve it all. I thought, well, now we really have to get out there.”
While Wheaton and O’Connell participated in the Oscars tribute to Reiner, Feldman noted on social media that he was not invited. Nevertheless, the trio remains committed to their tour, with upcoming stops in Anaheim, Seattle, Portland, Indianapolis, and Chicago. Additionally, a 4K restoration of the film is set for a limited theatrical run across the US and Canada.
Despite its enduring legacy, Stand by Me was a challenging film to bring to the screen. In 1985, Hollywood was not clamouring for a small, star-less drama about four 12-year-old boys searching for a dead body, even if it was based on a Stephen King novella. Reiner, despite previous successes, held modest expectations.
As he reportedly told his screenwriters in 1986, “There’s no way this picture is going to do business, because no one who went to Rambo will go to see our film.” Ironically, O’Connell recalled seeing Rambo: First Blood Part II the night before flying to Oregon for filming, believing it to be “the greatest film I had seen in my life” as an 11-year-old.
Stand by Me was indeed far removed from Rambo. Its very existence is credited to Norman Lear, who personally funded the film to the tune of “$8 million and change” after his company’s new owner, Coca-Cola, declined to invest. The film went on to earn over $52 million in its initial 1986 run, tapping into universal themes of youthful friendship, idyllic summer days, bullying, and challenging home lives.
Reiner’s unique approach to directing the young cast fostered authentic performances. “Rob took the time to really reach us and help us make authentic emotional connections to what our characters were experiencing,” Wheaton explained. “We were kids. I don’t think I’ve even turned 13 yet. River hasn’t turned 15 yet. And Rob is talking to us the way you talk to seasoned professionals and bringing these incredible performances out of us.”
Though set in 1959, the film has become a nostalgic touchstone for any generation that experienced life before mobile phones. “I think it’s what’s so special about ‘Stand by Me’ is that it’s not like any epic adventure movie,” O’Connell observed. “There are no, like, stunt sequences with cars rolling over and explosions. It’s a simple movie.”
O’Connell, who has seen the film countless times at home, found watching it again in a cinema to be a transportive experience. “Getting to see it on the big screen, it’s a different experience,” he said. “I think it’s because it is such an epic film with little boys.”
The screenings have attracted a diverse audience, from young children to grandparents, with Wheaton noting its particular resonance with “the ‘Stranger Things’ generation,” a show heavily influenced by Reiner’s work. O’Connell plans to take his 17-year-old daughters and their friends, confiscate their phones, and “make these Gen Z-ers sit down and watch a real movie.” Wheaton, laughing, quipped, “How (expletive) old do we sound right now?”
