Can you believe Ferris Bueller's Day Off was released 40 years ago today?
The iconic 1986 teen comedy, written and directed by John Hughes and starring Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, remains an iconic piece of cinema despite the decades that have passed.
© Getty ImagesTo celebrate the movie's 40th anniversary, its stars Matthew, 64, and Alan, 69, made an appearance on TODAY on June 11, looking back on the film's legacy, how it cemented their friendship, and whether it would ever merit a sequel.
While fans have been asking for a sequel for years, at this point, the former told the publication that he doesn't see a follow-up in the cards, especially after John's passing in 2009. Alan, though, joked that he'd see a sequel happening only with a singular far-fetched plot in mind.
"My joke always was when people [asked], 'Will there be a sequel?' I said, we're going to wait until we're in our 70s, and Cameron's in a home. And Ferris comes and liberates him," with Matthew imitating beside him: "Get out of that bed!"
"And we go do a bunch of nasty stuff," Alan continued, with a dark ending: "And then Cameron dies." Cameron does start off the movie in a depressed state, thanks especially to his fear-based relationship with his absent father, although the pair note that when they first saw a rough cut of the movie, a more serious cut, they were not impressed.
© Getty Images"I saw a rough cut. It was Jennifer and Jeffrey and Mia and me," Alan recalled. "And we saw a rough cut of it, and we were mortified."
Matthew further added: "I did see a rough cut early at some point at John's house, I think. A very long, serious version. And I was like, 'Well, this is a dreadful, dreadful movie.' … It was awful."
© NBCSafe to say, John was able to make some edits to produce the film we all know and love today. Opening at No. 2 at the box office upon release, Ferris Bueller's Day Off grossed over $70 million (roughly $212 million when adjusted for inflation), becoming the 10th highest grossing movie of the year. It also earned Matthew a Golden Globe nomination.
40 years later, do the actors, who will reunite for the upcoming film The Best is Yet to Come, feel differently about it? "No, I still think of it the same as – I don't think it has changed, really," Matthew affirmed.
© Getty Images"Not for me, either, I don't think," Alan added. "The thing that John was really, really good at was he gave these characters dignity. Teen comedies, so often it's just like they’re sex-crazed doofuses, and he didn't do that. He was like, 'No, they're real people, and they've got real fears and real desires.' And he honored all that, and we knew that when we were making it."
