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One of Sean Connery's most underrated films is heading to a brand-new streaming home.

Paramount+ is about to add 1996's Dragonheart to its ever-expanding streaming library. The classic fantasy film starring Dennis Quaid and Sean Connery is set to be available for streaming on Paramount+ beginning on Aug.1.

Directed by Rob Cohen from a screenplay by Charles Edward Pogue, who crafted the film's story alongside Patrick Read Johnson, Dragonheart stars Quaid as Sir Bowen, a brave knight who unwittingly served as the mentor to his land's future tyrant king, Einon, portrayed by David Thewlis. After a peasant named Kara, portrayed by Dina Meyer, accidentally wounds Einon's heart, his mother pleads with a dragon to save her son's life by replacing part of his heart with a piece of its own. While this does save the young prince, he ultimately grows up to be a cruel, murderous king, which drives...

The Lion King is one of Disney's most celebrated films and is fondly remembered for its soundtrack, colorful characters, and gripping story. People of all ages still remember the first time they heard Timon and Pumba sing "Hakuna Matata," still cry in anguish when Mufasa falls to his death, and cheer for joy when Simba returns from exile to topple the evil Scar. With the upcoming release of The Lion King: Mufasa, it's more than apparent that the popularity and longevity of The Lion King are assured.

One particular scene in The Lion King, one which features the song "Be Prepared," takes on a much darker tone than the rest of what's featured in the film. The song's subject matter and lyrical content depict Scar's plans to overthrow his brother Mufasa and seize the throne. However, a considerable amount of the accompanying imagery takes styling cues from The Third Reich...

2014’s Boyhood took 12 years to make. Some of these films make Boyhood look like an episode of South Park.

14 ‘Kill It and Leave This Town’: 14 Years

Polish animator Mariusz Wilczyński set out to make a short animated film about a person whose entire family dies, so they run off to a land of memories where time doesn’t exist and everyone is alive. At some point, Wilczyński decided it should actually become a feature length psychological horror, which took just a smidge longer to animate.

13 ‘The Evil Within’: 15 Years

Writer/director Andrew Getty self-financed this horror film, which was based on his childhood nightmares, for about $6 million. He filmed his deepest fears inside his own mansion, toiled away for years on special effects, and died before he could finish. The producer had to do the final editing to get it across the finish line.

12 ‘Pakeezah’: 16 Years

The...

Baby's Day Out, a 1994 family film, failed at the box office due to competition with The Lion King. The Lion King's success overshadowed Baby's Day Out, which struggled to make back its budget. Despite its low review scores, Baby's Day Out had potential with its cast, comedy/jeopardy mix, and groundbreaking special effects.

The director of Baby's Day Out, the 1994 family film with one of the cutest babies in history, has gone on record about the film's failure at the box office. Apparently, it was the fault of another youngster, albeit a furrier one, that proved to be one of the biggest movies of the decade.

The Lion King was released in direct competition with Baby's Day Out, and while the Patrick Read Johnson-directed movie struggled to even make back its budget, Disney's "Hamlet with lions" movie would go on to be considered one of the greatest animated movies of all time.

Baby's Day Out was released in theaters on July 1, 1994. The big problem was that The Lion King was still dominating theaters at the time, leaving other family films like Baby's Day Out out in the cold.

Baby's Day Out was directed by Patrick Read Johnson and written by John Hughes. The family comedy tells the story of a baby from a wealthy family who gets abducted by kidnappers seeking a hefty ransom. They get more than they bargained for when the baby escapes and goes on an adventure through Chicago with the kidnappers in hot pursuit, hoping to recover the child so they can claim the ransom money. The film was a box office bomb, earning $30 million against a $48 million budget. Looking back, Johnson stated in a post on X that he can still remember the shock a Fox VP had over the film getting pummeled by The Lion King.

Following the massive success of Home Alone, legendary writer-director John Hughes churned out more than a few half-baked scripts for family movies in which low-level criminals are brutalized by small children and/or adorable dogs. There was Dennis the Menace, Beethoven, heck, even the live-action version of 101 Dalmatians updated the classic story to include shabby crooks getting electrocuted in the balls.

But perhaps the wildest example of this trend is Baby’s Day Out, the 1994 comedy in which Joe Mantegna tries to kidnap an infant, with near-fatal results.

Unlike Home Alone, Baby’s Day Out wasn’t exactly a big hit. The film, which came out 30 years ago this week, made just over $16 million at the domestic box office, but cost $48 million to make. This was seemingly due to its cutting-edge animatronics. Had the filmmakers simply opted to imperil a real baby atop a skyscraper, it probably would have been a whole lot cheaper.

Its hard to overstate just how significant of an impact the release of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope had when it was first released in theaters in the summer of 1977, quickly becoming the highest-grossing film of all time. While works of science fiction had existed before in the form of the Planet of the Apes franchise and the classic Universal monster movies, George Lucas epic space opera merged the influence of Joseph Campbell, the Flash Gordon adventure serials, gunslinger Westerns, and the filmmaking of Akira Kurosawa into a genre-bending blockbuster that inspired a new generation of young filmmakers. Director Patrick Read Johnson examined the impact that the original Star Wars had on aspiring filmmakers in his heartfelt coming-of-age film 5-25-77.

Treat Williams, a long-time character actor and star of the well-loved cult movies Deep Rising and Dead Heat, has died at 71. According to a report via People Magazine, the actor died in a tragic motorcycle accident. His agent, Barry McPherson, told the magazine, “He was killed this afternoon. He was making a left or a right and a car cut him off,” McPherson said, adding, “I’m just devastated. He was the nicest guy. He was so talented.”

Williams had a long, legendary career on the silver screen. He first broke out in the late seventies in movies like The Eagle Has Landed before earning a Golden Globe nomination for the film adaptation of Hair. He had perhaps his best role in 1981, playing the lead in Sidney Lumet’s Prince of the City (a favorite of ours here at JoBlo), earning a Golden Globe nomination. In the film, he played...

A long time ago, in a small town in USA, a devoted film fan spends his days making movies in his backyard and obsessing over 2001: A Space Odyssey and every other film he loves… but little does he know that he’s about to discover a film that will change his life forever…

That boy is Pat (John Francis Daley – Spider-man: Homecoming, Game Night) and that film is Star Wars.

Now the long-awaited, captivating feature, 5-25-77, based on the true story of Patrick Read Johnson – written and directed by the man himself – is out now on UK digital thanks to 101 Films.

This funny and endearing coming-of-age drama is a love letter to film, filmmaking and the seminal films of the 70s and is a must-see for anyone with a passion for film or just loves a good movie.

Meet Pat, he’s an outsider, a geek with an obsession for film.

John Francis Daley as the young Patrick Read Johnson in 5-25-77

Patrick Read Johnson has a claim to fame which thousands envy. He was the first person, beyond those who made it, ever to see the original Star Wars. The story of how that came about is the lynchpin of his semi-autobiographical new film, 5-25-77, which also explores the way he fell in love with filmmaking and finally moved beyond amateur productions in small town Illinois to develop a career in the industry. If you imagine what an almost 60-year-old lifelong fan of science fiction cinema might look like, you’ll have no difficulty picturing Patrick, but it shines out of him in a good way, his creative passion visible in everything he says and does. We almost missed out on having this conversation because a falling tree cut off his Wi-fi at the last minute, but consummate professional that he is,...

There is practically nobody under the age of 60 now who knows what it was like to see Star Wars in a cinema before it was widely known. Even those lucky few will struggle to imagine what it might have been like to see it before its release. One of those who did was director Patrick Read Johnson, but not because, in those days, he had any influence in the film industry. He was just a kid who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Decades later, he has decided to tell his story.

The best shot in 5-25-77 is the first one, which delicately breaks the fourth wall before showing us John Francis Daley, playing the teenage Johnson, sitting alone in his bedroom undergoing a process of realisation. As 10Cc’s I’m Not In Love plays in the background,. we see his face gradually transform.

New Release Wall

“The Power of the Dog” (The Criterion Collection): Jane Campion’s Academy Award–winning adaptation of Thomas Savage’s dark novel is reminiscent of her earlier acclaimed film, “The Piano.” Both are stories of trouble people in troubled landscapes, but here Campion’s attention is on men and the ways they wield power over each other. Starring Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Benedict Cumberbatch and Kodi Smit-Mcphee, it’s the story of men who don’t understand their own desires and the violence that can result. This handsome Criterion edition in 4K provides all the usual bonus extras dedicated cinephiles have come to expect from the label.

Also available:

“Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon” (Shout Factory): A vibrant animated feature about a young girl determined to save her rainforest home.

“Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons” (DC/Warner Bros): The tween superkids of...

This coming of age film about filmmaking and a love of Star Wars was written and directed by Patrick Read Johnson (Spaced Invaders).

The story follows hopeful filmmaker Pat Johnson's (John Francis Daley) epic true story of growing up in rural Illinois, falling in love, and becoming the first fan of the movie that changed everything - Star Wars.

The film's title stems from the summer of 1977 release date of the original Star Wars film, with this year being its 45th anniversary.

Mvd Entertainment Group will finally debut 5-25-77 in select US theaters on September 23rd, 2022, then on VOD starting on October 11th this fall.

Check out the trailer:...

"How much do you want to be a director, Patrick?" "Do you Need to be one?" Mvd Entertainment has revealed a brand new official trailer for the Star Wars opening day movie 5-25-77, from filmmaker Patrick Read Johnson. Yes, this is the long lost, still-never-released (until now!!) nerdy Star Wars coming-of-age flick that has been in the works for more than a decade. We first posted a trailer for it back in 2009, when it was still called simply '77, now it's ready to shine all these years later. 5-25-77 is a coming-of-age comedy inspired by the true story of a nerdy, alienated, hopeful filmmaker named Pat Johnson about growing up, falling in love, and becoming the very first fan of the movie that changed everything, Star Wars. Starring John Francis Daley as Pat Johnson, with Austin Pendleton, Colleen Camp, Neil Flynn, and Justin Mentell. I've been waiting to watch this!

Over 45 years ago, George Lucas debuted a little film known as "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope" and completely changed the cinematic landscape forever. Many have equated seeing "Star Wars" for the first time as the closest thing a movie fan could have to a religious experience, but few have been able to capture what that life-changing moment was really like, until now. At just 15 years old, Patrick Read Johnson was one of the first people outside of Industrial Light and Magic to see "Star Wars," having caught an unfinished cut...

The post 5-25-77 Trailer: Patrick Read Johnson's Decades-Old Star Wars Comedy is Finally Being Released appeared first on /Film.

Commission

Warner Bros. Discovery U.K. is re-teaming with Optomen TV to produce a follow-up to “Johnny vs Amber,” a two-part documentary which explored Johnny Depp’s defamation trial in the U.K. High Court with explosive evidence, intimate personal archive and in-depth interviews from both legal teams. Following the success of that documentary, the follow up will be focused on the recent and very high-profile legal battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, this time in the U.S. The two-part Discovery+ documentary will again look at the extensive evidence and testimony of both Depp and Heard. Each episode will present one side of the argument through legal teams, friends, family and key witnesses.

In addition, Discovery+ has also greenlit two further ‘vs’ series: “Coleen vs Rebekah,” will examine the recent U.K. court battle between high profile footballers’ wives Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy; and “Britney vs Jamie,...

Forty-five years ago today, George Lucas' "Star Wars" debuted in a smattering of theaters scattered throughout the United States. Prior to release, no one outside of Hollywood had any idea it would enrapture moviegoers and completely revolutionize the entire industry. Few people inside Hollywood thought this. But upon seeing an unfinished cut of the film over spring break in 1977, a brash fifteen-year-old from Wadsworth, Illinois named Patrick Read Johnson knew what was coming. And after establishing himself as a studio filmmaker via '90s chestnuts like "Spaced...

The post Patrick Read Johnson's Long-Finished Star Wars Comedy 5-25-77 Is Finally About to Be Released appeared first on /Film.

Exclusive: Mvd Entertainment Group has acquired worldwide rights to the autobiographical coming-of-age comedy 5-25-77, from writer-director Patrick Read Johnson (Spaced Invaders), slating it for release in North American theaters this fall, with an unveiling on digital and VOD to follow.

The film’s title stems from the 1977 release date of George Lucas’ original Star Wars film—which today celebrates its 45th anniversary. It’s inspired by the true story of a nerdy, alienated, hopeful filmmaker named Pat Johnson (John Francis Daley) about growing up, falling in love, and becoming the very first fan of the movie that changed everything. Austin Pendleton (My Cousin Vinny), Colleen Camp (Die Hard with a Vengeance), Neil Flynn (Scrubs) and Justin Mentell (G-Force) also star.

Gary Kurtz, Fred Roos, and Leigh Jones produced, in collaboration with Film.io Originals, with 5-25-77 marking Kurtz’s final film before his passing in 2018. Mvd...

Synopsis: Lukas (Jack Kane), a young farmer whose family is killed by savage raiders in the countryside, sets out on an epic quest for revenge, forming an unlikely trio with a majestic dragon and a swashbuckling, sword-fighting mercenary, Darius (Joseph Millson). Helena Bonham Carter voices Siveth, the ice breathing dragon who was once banished from the kingdom for failing to save the king’s life. Compelled by the young man’s cause, she emerges from hiding, using her fantastical powers on the trio’s adventurous journey which brings revelations and rewards beyond vengeance. Dragonheart: Vengeance is an exciting action-adventure filled with fantasy and humor that will thrill the entire family.

Complete your Dragonheart library when the all-new five-Movie Collection is available on DVD on February 4, 2019. Now fans can experience the legendary fantasy franchise with all five movies in one complete must-own set including, Dragonheart, Dragonheart: A New Beginning, Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer’s Curse,...

Last year it was announced that Netflix acquired the rights to writer and director Orson Welles' final uncompleted film, The Other Side of the Wind. Welles started shooting the film in the 1970s and was working on completing it up until the time he passed away in 1985. Unfortunately, the movie was plagued with financial problems and 96% of the film was reportedly completed.

Frank Marshall, who was the production manager during the original shoot, brought on a team of editors to go through more than 1,000 reels of film negatives that were sitting in a Paris vault until March 2017, when Netflix acquired it. They used that footage to complete the film.

Now, thanks to Marshall, we've learned that the film will get a theatrical release! Indiewire reports that The Other Side of the Wind "will have numerous cinema showings, but details for the rollout are still being planned."

The movie is...

The Vestron Video Collector’s Series is looking to cast the ultimate spell with the upcoming release of the Warlock Collection, arriving for the first time on limited-edition Blu-ray on July 25 from Lionsgate. A 17th-century Warlock is transported to the 20th century, where he looks to end all of creation. The 2-disc Warlock Collection set includes all three films from the Warlock franchise: Warlock, Warlock: The Armageddon, and Warlock III: The End of Innocence, and are packed with all-new special features, including audio commentaries, isolated score selections, interviews, TV spots, still galleries, making-of featurettes, and more! Restored and remastered, the Warlock Collection Vestron Video Collector’s Series Blu-ray will be available for the suggested retail price of $39.97.

Street Date: 7/25/17

Blu-ray™ Srp: $39.97

Warlock Collection Official Synopsis

An evil warlock flees from the 17th to the 20th century and works to unleash Satan upon the world in these three supernaturally chilling films.

The Vestron cult classic horror title releases continue with the Warlock Collection, coming to Blu-ray on July 25 with all new special features!

The Vestron Video Collector’s Series is looking to cast the ultimate spell with the upcoming release of the Warlock Collection, arriving for the first time on limited-edition Blu-ray on July 25 from Lionsgate. A 17th-century Warlock is transported to the 20th century, where he looks to end all of creation. The 2-disc Warlock Collection set includes all three films from the Warlock franchise: Warlock, Warlock: The Armageddon, and Warlock III: The End of Innocence, and are packed with all-new special features, including audio commentaries, isolated score selections, interviews, TV spots, still galleries, making-of featurettes, and more! Restored and remastered, the Warlock Collection Vestron Video Collector’s Series Blu-ray will be available for the suggested retail price of $39.97.

Warlock Collection Official Synopsis

An evil warlock flees from the 17th...

Lionsgate's Vestron Video Collector's Series is adding a little magic to their Blu-ray catalogue this summer with the Warlock Collection, including all three films in the fantasy horror franchise.

The eleventh title in the Vestron Video Collector's Series, the Warlock Collection will be released on July 25th, and you can read the official details below:

Press Release: The Vestron cult classic horror title releases continue with the Warlock Collection, coming to Blu-ray on July 25 with all new special features!

Street Date: 7/25/17

Blu-ray™ Srp: $39.97

Program Description

The Vestron Video Collector’s Series is looking to cast the ultimate spell with the upcoming release of the Warlock Collection, arriving for the first time on limited-edition Blu-ray on July 25 from Lionsgate. A 17th-century Warlock is transported to the 20th century, where he looks to end all of creation. The 2-disc Warlock Collection set includes all three films from the Warlock franchise: Warlock, Warlock: The Armageddon,...

Most movies have a long journey to movie theaters, but “5-25-77” has a longer one than most. As the title might suggest, it’s a coming-of-age picture about the release of the original “Star Wars,” based in part on the experiences of writer-director Patrick Read Johnson, who was one of the first people outside the creators to see “Star Wars,” before going on to write or direct movies including “Dragonheart,” “Baby’s Day Out” and “Angus.”

Johnson began developing the project in 1999 after teaming up with original “Star Wars” producer Gary Kurtz, and began shooting the low-budget project, about an aspiring filmmaker in the run up to the release of George Lucas’ film, in 2004, with production continuing on-and-off until 2006 (though pick-ups have been done more recently too).

Continue reading ‘Star Wars’-Themed Coming-Of-Age Comedy ‘5-25-77’ Gets A Trailer 13 Years After It Filmed at The Playlist.

Universal Pictures has released the trailer for Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire, which is the fourth film in the Dragonheart fantasy film franchise. In this film, Patrick Stewart provides the voice of the dragon Drago. This is a role that Sean Connery played in the 1996 film and Ben Kingsley played in the third film in 2015. Here's the synopsis"

In Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire, Patrick Stewart voices Drago, the magnificent dragon who became bonded with King Gareth. When the king dies, his potential heirs, twin grandchildren who possess the dragon’s unique strengths, use their inherited powers against each other to vie for the throne. When Drago’s source of power – known as the Heartfire – is stolen, more than the throne is at stake; the siblings must end their rivalry with swords and sorcery or the kingdom may fall.

The press release also offers an interesting bit of...

“Star Wars” fandom has generated its own offshoot of films about the culture surrounding the saga, ranging from the regrettable “Fanboys,” to the documentary about “Elstree 1976,” to Patrick Read Johnson’s still unreleased “5-25-77” (seriously, what’s going on with that movie?). And now another is on the way, hoping to capture the magic of… standing in line.

Continue reading Movie About Waiting In Line For ‘Star Wars’ In The Works at The Playlist.

Finally. Hopefully. Maybe it will be out this year. Fingers crossed. We've been following this film since the very early days of FirstShowing - originally called just '77, then retitled to 5-25-77, with releases planned for years but nothing actually ever happening. Patrick Read Johnson's 5-25-77 is a coming-of-age indie set around the opening of the original Star Wars on the big screen on May 25th, 1977. Apparently the film is finally being finished, a distributor is place, and it will be out later this year - or so Patrick Read Johnson told Yahoo (via SlashFilm). "I can tell you that the film will come out in theaters on a significant date," he hints, but that won't be on the same day as The Force Awakens in December, so it has to be another time. "The movie is done," Johnson says. He even returned to his home town of Waukegan,...

More than a decade after Patrick Read Johnson started shooting 5-25-77, his Star Wars-centric coming-of-age drama, he’s finally done. The director has confirmed in a recent interview that the movie is ready to go, and will be released later this year. John Francis Daley leads 5-25-77 as a young film geek whose life is changed by a […]

The post ‘Star Wars’ Fan Film ‘5-25-77′ Finally Headed for Release appeared first on /Film.

Passion and patience don't always mix, but Patrick Read Johnson has had plenty of both. Way back in 2007, his movie "5-25-77" screened at the Star Wars Celebration IV and then....sort of disappeared. The picture has never quite been fully completed, lacking the funds to take it over the finish line. And in the years since, it has popped up sporadically at film festivals, while Johnson has struggled to find a home for his picture, complete it, and get it released. And it's a shame given that buzz has been very positive and that the premise should hit the nostalgic sweet spot for many. John Francis Daley ("Freak & Geeks") stars as passionate movie-lover in the '70s, whose chance visit to Hollywood allows him to rub shoulders with Steven Spielberg and Douglas Trumbull, and get a behind-the-scenes tour of Industrial Light & Magic. And it's there where he gets a glimpse of "Star Wars,...

The full Fantasia 2013 lineup has now been revealed, and we have here the third and final wave of titles to share. Prepare to drool!

From the Press Release:

The Fantasia International Film Festival is proud to announce the rest of our 120-feature lineup that comprises our 2013 event, along with a string of additional details that mark our 17th edition as a standout. Fantasia will engulf the city of Montreal from July 18-August 6, 2013. Be sure to visit the Fantasia Film Festival website for detailed essays on every title announced here, as well as all films previously disclosed over the last weeks.

Before we get started on titles... Meet Our 2013 Juries

Main Competition For The Cheval Noir Award For Best Film

Jury President: Laura Kern (Critic, Curator, managing editor, Film Comment)

Jean-Pierre Bergeron (Actor, Director, Screenwriter)

Samuel Jamier (Co-Director of the New York Asian Film Festival, Programmer at Japan Society)

Jarod Neece (Senior Programmer and Operations Manager,...

The Fantasia Film Festival is taking place from July 18th to August 6th in Montreal and will feature over 100 films from around the world. We gave you a look at the initial lineup last month and now have an additional list of Fantasia 2013 films that will be screening, including Curse of Chucky, You’re Next, and Frankenstein’s Army:

Horror Is Child’S Play – Don Mancini’S Curse Of Chucky (World Premiere)

A rarity among genre franchises, the Child’S Play series (begun in 1988) has retained the sure-handed guidance of original screenwriter/creator Don Mancini throughout killer doll Chucky’s decades’-long reign of horror. Mancini, who will be hosting our “scar-studded” world premiere, graduated to the director’s chair with 2004’s Seed Of Chucky, after having co-written or written every entry in the series. His longevity with the project is, of course, matched by the fiendish voiceover work by...

Whether you were one of the first to see it back in '77, or whether you were born well after the pop-culture bomb built by the man named George Lucas blew sky high, chances are Star Wars has impacted your life one way or another. Pretty much every movie fan has a story about the first time they saw the uber-classic space opera, but no one, and I mean no one, has a story like writer/director Patrick Read Johnson (Spaced Invaders, Dragonheart, Baby's Day Out), as recounted in his new film 5-25-77 (which is the date Sw was released for anyone who doesn't know).Pat (Freaks And Geeks' John Francis Daley) is a 70s-era small town teen, who makes films in his backyard with his family...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

"What does it really take to create and complete a motion picture outside of the Hollywood system?" Earlier this year, we reported that Patrick Read Johnson's long-awaited film 5-25-77, about the opening night of Star Wars in 1977, might finally be released this year. Johnson announced he was driving across America, bringing everything to Hollywood to try and get the film distributed. In the meantime, he decided to make a documentary about that journey, and so the Hearts of Dorkness was born. We missed this trailer when it first hit, but came across it and still thought it worth featuring while we wait for updates on 5-25-77. Enjoy! Watch the first trailer for Patrick Read Johnson's Hearts of Dorkness, on the Making of 5-25-77: Hearts of Dorkness is a documentary in-the-making about the making-of Patrick Read Johnson's award-winning film, 5-25-77. "Right now, Patrick...

If you thought it was weird that The Cabin in the Woods sat on the shelf for so long before being released, well, then you clearly aren't familiar with the epic saga of Patrick Read Johnson's 5-25-77. It's been 7 years now since I first wrote a post about Johnson's movie, an autobiographical coming of age story about a young aspiring filmmaker whose life changes forever after seeing Star Wars in the summer of 1977. At the time, they were aiming to have it in theatres around the same time as Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. That clearly didn't happen, but almost every May since then we've been hearing reports that it could finally see the light of day. Now this year, those same reports have cropped up again... will 2012 be the year we actually get to watch it? This time around, the news comes courtesy of Variety's Jeff Sneider,...

Good news Star Wars fans, Patrick Read Johnson‘s 5-25-77 looks to be finally set for release. You may recall that the coming-of-age drama about how the release of the original movie shapes a young man’s Hollywood dreams. Aside from being shown at a film festival, the movie has sat on the shelf collecting dust. For more details about the project, check out a cool article at Hollywood Elsewhere.

Variety's Jeff Sneider tweeted today that the film will finally be released this summer,

Breaking: At long last, it looks like Patrick Read Johnson's Star Wars-centric pic 5-25-77 is coming out this spring on that very day...

Read Johnson responded with the following tweets:

Jeff!5-25-12 isn't our release date!But the cross-countryroad-trip adventure that begins that day will lead us to one!

On 5-25-12, a 1975 Ford Pinto will depart Wadsworth, Illinois to deliver...

A long time ago, on an Internet that seems far far away, two Star Wars themed films were looking at major releases. There was Kyle Newman’s Fanboys and Patrick Read Johnson‘s 5-25-77. The former was centered on the excitement looking ahead to the prequels and the latter was about how the release of the original movie shapes a [...]...

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane: The debut of Jonathan Levine, who later directed the marvelous The Wackness, and who has high-profile cancer comedy starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, and Anna Kendrick due to be released later this year, screened this horror flick first in 2007 at the SXSW film festival, and most recently, at the 2010 International Comic-Con. But, the film -- which stars Amber Heard -- is still sitting on a shelf, and at this point, may never be released. It's not too hard to find, however, as I did a couple of years ago, providing this review:

Levine has taken the slasher film blueprint and, without necessarily doing anything particularly original with it, has created a dead teenager movie that you can appreciate not for its campy gloriousness, its machete gore, its body count, or the T & A. In fact, he's done something I'd never even considered before:...

A few years ago, Star Wars fans waited eagerly for the release of a film about a group of friends who travel cross country trying to acquire a copy of The Phantom Menace before its theatrical release. The movie was Fanboys, a film that spoke to Star Wars fans in a way no other movie had before. Despite some much publicized issues with the script, and some story tweaks and movie studio meddling, the film was released and eventually came to DVD. There was mixed reaction, but fans of Star Wars were thrilled to have a movie that spoke to their love of the franchise.

The galaxy rejoiced and all was well. Except...

There was another movie, announced well before Fanboys, that piqued my interest. Cut from a similar cloth, it was called 5-25-77, a nod to the original release date of Star Wars: A New Hope. Written...

November 10, 2010 is the day that we lost prolific film producer Dino De Laurentiis at the age of 91. He modeled himself after Samuel Goldwyn, and he truly was the last of the great movie moguls. His resume speaks for itself, and no one can deny he had a little Frank Sinatra in him; he did it his way.

His overblown grandiose spectacles are usually the ones I felt the most drawn to. I am not afraid to admit that I like a good bad movie, and Dino made more than his fair share. One of them being King Kong Lives [King Kong 2], a sequel to his own horrid 1976 remake.

What better way to pay tribute to Dino De Laurentiis but to find someone who not only met him, but an individual who worked on one of his pictures who has great stories to tell. Let me step aside for this one and let...

I have not been short with my praise for Red Letter Media. No clue who or what that is? He's the brilliant mind behind the 70-minute review of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, the shorter-but-still-great review of Avatar, and the 90-minute review of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. While are largely seen as simply being hilarious and creepy, they are also incredibly insightful and well-researched. While we wait for his review of Revenge of the Sith, however, he has released a new video. What modern masterpiece has he decided to tackle this time? Patrick Read Johnson's Baby's Day Out, best known for being the worst thing John Hughes ever wrote. Few people are willing to burn 99 minutes of their life watching the actual film, so why would you want to spend 25 minutes listening to a guy rip it to shreds? The simple answer is...

Remember back in December when a seventy-minute long video review of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was all the rage? And then the same guy returned to the Intertubes four months later to do a nearly ninety-minute long review of Attack of the Clones? Well, now he's back with another review of a brilliant cinematic milestone, Patrick Read Johnson's ground-breaking 1994 film, Baby's Day Out.

I'm sad to report that at a mere twenty-five minutes it's not actually quite as long as his Star Wars' reviews, but it is just as funny-- plus, surprisingly, it actually has a bit of internal continuity with his Clones' video, proving he puts more thought and effort into these videos than 99% of people who hop on YouTube to complain about a movie. Sure, making fun of a flick as menial and pointless as Baby's Day Out is as easy as shooting...

Mike from Red Letter Media (Aka the guy who put together the epic, 70-minute review of The Phantom Menace and the 90-minute review of Attack of the Clones) has moved on past sci-fi and is now doing shorter video reviews. The newest is a twenty five minute dissection of the Patrick Read Johnson's 1994 film Baby's Day Out. Now you might be saying: "I don't really need to watch a 25 minute video review of Baby's Day Out." Out of all the movies in the history of cinema, I'm not sure what compelled them to pick this John Hughes-penned family comedy. And while on the surface it might seem like a movie like Baby's Day Out would be easy to rip apart, Red Letter Media does it in a well-researched yet humorous approach, offering insights and laughs you never thought you'd get from such a review/dissection. Hit the jump...

In a number of ways falling in love with a film is the same as falling in love with a lady. You can’t always chose who you hold a candle for. In fact, a lot of time, the heart dictates the object of its affection in spite of logic or pragmatism. Often the recipient of the heart’s desire isn’t the most obvious choice; they aren’t neccesarily the best looking or the smartest. Yet they always have something else going on, a je ne se quais, a something else you may or may not be able to put your finger on. It may be just a small idiosyncacy like the way she screws up her nose when annoyed or the kooky inflections that pepper her sentences.

Angus, a very wonderful little production, is a fantastic example of this. Lost in a crowd of more popular and critically acclaimed teen films,...

Its double movie time for this week’s Under the Radar. The first of the two is the film entitled ‘77, the latest title that it’s been through within the past few years (previously being known as 5-25-77 or 1977 if that rings a bell). The film itself has gone through many hardships, been in and out of production for years and still looms on with an uncertain release date for the general audience. Despite all of that, ‘77 involves the heart and dedication of many years of labor and love that a fair portion of us are interested in seeing. A creation not from the minds of random nerds but a autobiographical tale from director & writer Patrick Read Johnson, read on to see what it is all about.

Pat Johnson is the only Sci-Fi movie obsessed teen filmmaker in his rural hometown of Wadsworth, Illinois (population 750). Pat’s desire is...

At first I was simply excited because Sam Weir from “Freaks and Geeks” was the star of this movie, but after watching the trailer, I’m certain that “77” is going to be the “Fanboys” we’ve all been waiting for. Patrick Read Johnson wrote and directed the film, which is about his experience growing up as a movie-obsessed geek in a small town in Illinois. On top of dealing with typical high school problems, Pat (John Francis Daley) must defy the odds and do all he can to fulfill his dream of making it to Hollywood and becoming a filmmaker. The May 25th, 1977 release of “Star Wars” is is the driving force behind his effort to shape his destiny.

Yet another movie about "Star Wars," called "77," is being made. But unlike "Fanboys," this is more of a coming-of-age story rather than a hilarious road trip. Today, we have a trailer for it. Check it out below. Plot: Alienated, hopeful-filmmaker Pat Johnson's (John Francis Daley) epic story about growing up in rural Illinois, falling in love, and becoming the first fan of the movie that changed everything. The new movie is written and directed by Patrick Read Johnson, who the movie is about. He previously helmed "Space Invaders" and "Angus," and is credit with providing the story for "Dragonheart." "77" has yet to find a distributor. Trailer: If you cannot see the player, click here.

According to Ain’t It Cool News this movie has been in post production for about 2 years now, following initial fan screenings which showed the film for all its flaws. The movie is an autobiographical account of director Patrick Read Johnson’s early years as a budding filmmaker on the cusp of the release of the original Star Wars. From the trailer (thanks Starlog) I’d say it looks pretty good, see for yourself.

Holy Han on Hoth, it's been many years since we first heard about this indie 5-25-77, a love letter to the first Star Wars. Is it finally getting ready to escape the tractor beam of development hell? Starlog caught up with the filmmaker Patrick Read Johnson to find out the status of the semi-autobiographical project (now just going by the title '77, which isn't particularly alluring). Johnson says: "Though we had two fantastic screenings at the Hamptons Film Festival and won an award...

Still feeling a little burned by the disappointing movie that Fanboys became when the Weinstein Company pillaged it? Maybe you can find some consolation in '77, the other tiny indie about geeky Star Wars fans trying to make their dreams come true. This one is written and directed by Patrick Read Johnson, telling an autobiographical story about an Illinois teenager (John Francis Daley, a.k.a. Sam Weir from Freaks and Geeks) who is an aspiring filmmaker, and whose life is changed by the May 25, 1977 release of a little movie called Star Wars. The movie doesn't have a release date or a distributor yet, but they've released the first trailer. It's a good trailer, though one that's really over-reliant on familiar songs-- Paul Simon's "Kodachrome,'" Elo's "Mr. Blue Sky" and (I think) Jon Brion's song from I Heart Huckabees. Seriously, we all love "Mr. Blue Sky," but...

Before everyone gets all aggro on me for dissing Kyle Newman's Fanboys right off the bat, lets put things in perspective: anyone who has seen Fanboys knows that it really wasn't the bodacious geek thrill ride that the hype promised. It was a lot of fun, yes, but it was also a little flat here and there. My theory is that it might actually be a great movie, but the fact that I had to write 1,700 articles about it in the few years that it sat shelved over at Weinstein Central might have completely numbed me to the flick. My hope is that we can learn from that experience and possibly enjoy some of the coming-of-age Star Wars geekery in Patrick Read Johnson's indie comedy 77, the trailer for which can be seen below. It tells the story of hopeful filmmaker Pat Johnson (John Francis Daley), loner, as he grows up in rural Illinois, falls...