What the Hell Happened to Emilio Estevez?

Emilio Estevez comes from Hollywood royalty.  His dad is actor Martin Sheen.  His brother is Charlie Sheen.  As a child, his best friends were the Penns (Sean and Chris) and the Lowes (Rob and Chad).  Estevez grew up immersed in show biz.  In the early 80’s Estevez became the de facto leader of the actors of his generation.  Collectively, they were known as the Brat Pack and for a short time, they reigned supreme.  As the decade ended, there was a backlash against the Pack.  Among his colleagues, Estevez held up better than others.  But these days, Estevez is rarely heard from.

What the hell happened?

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Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen

Estevez is one of Martin Sheen’s children.   Charlie Sheen (born Carlos Estevez) and Renée Estevez are his siblings.  Estevez was born in New York, but when his dad’s movie career took off, the family moved out West.

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High school pictures left to right: Robert Downey Jr., Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen and Rob Lowe

Estevez grew up in Malibu where he attended Santa Monica High School.  His classmates included Robert Downey Jr. (pictured far left), his brother (pictured second from the right), Rob Lowe (pictured far right), Chad Lowe, Sean Penn and Chris Penn.

When Estevez was 11, his father bought  a portable movie camera.  Estevez used the camera to make short films with his future actor friends.

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Emilio Estevez on the set of Apocalypse Now

When Estevez was 14, his father took his family to the Philippines to film Apocalypse Now.  Estevez was miserable.  He wanted to return to school in California and his dad was drinking heavily.  According to Estevez, there was very little parental supervision:

My father and mother, neither of them cared if Larry Fishburne and I jumped in a jitney and went to Manila for the weekend. President Marcos was in power, martial law was in effect, and you were shot on sight if you were seen on the street after 1am. What were they thinking?

Eventually, things became heated between Estevez and his father.  The two had a fistfight which was broken up by Marlon Brando.  According to Sheen:

“I was trying not to hurt Emilio and trying to make sure he didn’t hurt himself. Thank God Marlon arrived when he did.”

Estevez talked about his combative relationship with his father:

I hated him when he got drunk, because he’d get violent.  Some of it he may remember, some of it he may not. But, yeah, it was horrible. And because I was the oldest, it was always directed at me. But I think the Philippines was the last physical fight we had. The older I got, I started lifting weights and getting stronger, soI was like, ‘Come on, let’s go…’

When they returned to California, Estevez co-wrote and starred in a high school play.  The play was titled Echoes of an Era and it was about Vietnam veterans.  Estevez invited his parents to attend the production and his father was astonished by what he saw.  Sheen recollects:

I had no idea that he was interested. I was so interested in myself I didn’t really focus on what my kids’ needs were, or what their aspirations were. And when he invited us to come see this play, I was astonished. He had this very emotional scene, and the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. And I began to realise: my God, he’s one of us. He had that same deep and personal thing. I thought, ah, he’s cursed.

After graduating high school, Estevez refused to attend college.  He wanted to start his acting career right away.  His first role was in a drama on Insight, a syndicated TV program produced by the Catholic Paulist order.  After that, he made his stage debut with his dad in Mister Roberts at Burt Reynolds’ theater in Jupiter, Fla.   According to Estevez,”That was the only job Dad ever placed me in.”

Estevez - In the Custody of Strangers
Estevez – In the Custody of Strangers – 1982

In 1982, Estevez starred opposite his father in the TV movie, In the Custody of Strangers.

Estevez played a teen who rebels against his father and gets in trouble when he rear-ends a cop while drunk driving.  Sheen and Jane Alexander played his parents.  Sheen’s character decides to teach his son a lesson in the form of a little tough love by letting him spend the night in prison.  Unfortunately, the events of the evening land Estevez in deeper trouble.

This time, Estevez suggested his dad for the role instead of the other way around.  “I just told Dad it would be fun to work together, and one of us might be dead next week, so why waste the chance?”

The film was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television but lost to Brideshead Revisited.

Matt Dillon and Emilio Estevez - Tex - 1982
Matt Dillon and Emilio Estevez – Tex – 1982

Later that year, Estevez appeared opposite Matt Dillon in the big screen adaptation of S. E. Hinton’s novel, Tex.

Dillon and Jim Metzler played brothers who struggle after the death of their mother.  Estevez and Meg Tilly played rich neighbor kids who are forbidden by their father from associating with Dillon.

Reviews were mostly positive, but the film grossed just a little over seven million dollars.

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Emilio Estevez – The Outsiders – 1983

In 1983, Estevez co-starred opposite every up-and-coming actor in Hollywood in Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of another S. E. Hinton novel, The Outsiders.

Estevez played, Two-Bit Matthews, a member of a gang of teens known as the Greasers.  The star-studded gang of hoodlums included then-unknowns C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon and some kid named Tom Cruise.  The Greasers have a rivalry with a gang of rich kids called the Socs (pronounced “soashes” because they are socialites).  Diane Lane co-stars as one of the Socs girlfriends.

Coppola became interested in filming The Outsiders when a school class voted him the director they would most like to see adapt the novel.  The class sent the director a letter and a copy of the book.  Coppola became so interested, that he also optioned Hinton’s book, Rumble Fish.

Estevez and Cruise were close friends.  They showed up for the audition together and both landed star-making roles.  Estevez saw his character as “a laid-back guy” and came up with the idea that he would be a Mickey Mouse fan.  His character wears a sleeveless Mickey Mouse T-shirt and watches Mickey cartoons.

Reviews were mixed to positive and The Outsiders did reasonably well at the box office.

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Emilio Estevez – Nightmares – 1983

Later that year, Estevez appeared in the horror anthology movie, Nightmares.

Estevez stars in the second segment of the movie, The Bishop of Battle.  He played a video-game addicted teen who breaks into an arcade late at night in order to beat a challenging video game.  When he reaches the final level of the game, the box collapses and the video game enemies come pouring out to fight him in real life.

The stories were  originally shot for ABC’s thriller anthology series Darkroom.  But they were deemed too intense for TV audiences.  When the show was cancelled in 1982, Universal recut the unused episodes with additional footage and released them as an anthology movie in theaters.

Estevez went through a two week training course with the NYPD on gun use to train for his battle scenes when the computer-generated enemies entered the real world.  The computer game sequences were generated on an ACS1200 and cost so much that they nearly bankrupted production.

Nightmares was panned by critics.  Janet Maslin of the New York Times wrote “Nothing spoils a horror story faster than a stupid victim. And Nightmares, an anthology of four supposedly scary episodes, has plenty of those.”

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Emilio Estevez – Repo Man -1984

In 1984, Estevez starred in the punk rock, sci-fi crime comedy, Repo Man.

Estevez played a punk rocker who loses his job and his girlfriend.  After he discovers his parents have given away his college savings to a televangelist, Estevez begins working as a repo man.  He and his mentor, played by Harry Dean Stanton become entangled in trouble surrounding an unusually large bounty on a 1964 Chevy Malibu with a dangerous cargo in its trunk.

Repo Man was a tiny little movie.  They only had one Chevy Malibu which was stolen a few days into filming so they had to buy a second car.  The first car was found by the police and returned undamaged.  The timing was fortunate because the replacement car was severely damaged the next day.  The best a movie like Repo Man can hope for is to achieve cult status.  And that is exactly what happened.  Repo Man was ranked 7th on Entertainment Weekly’s list of the 50 Best Cult Films.

Reviews for Repo Man were positive.  Roger Ebert wrote:

I saw Repo Man near the end of a busy stretch on the movie beat: Three days during which I saw more relentlessly bad movies than during any comparable period in memory. Most of those bad movies were so cynically constructed out of formula ideas and “commercial” ingredients that watching them was an ordeal. Repo Man comes out of left field, has no big stars, didn’t cost much, takes chances, dares to be unconventional, is funny, and works. There is a lesson here.

In 2009, writer-director Alex Cox wrote and directed a follow up titled Repo Chick.  Universal filed a cease and desist order to try to prevent Cox from making his non-sequel.  Repo Chick featured some of the same actors as the original, but they were all in different roles.  So Cox ignored the cease and desist order and released his movie anyway.

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Emilio Estevez and Molly Ringwald – The Breakfast Club – 1985

1985 was a big year for Estevez.  His career changed forever when he appeared in John Hughes’ high school drama, The Breakfast Club.

The Breakfast Club was about five high school students from different social groups who bond during detention.  Molly Ringwald played the rich, popular girl.  Judd Nelson played the juvenile delinquent.  Ally Sheedy played the weird outsider and Anthony Michael Hall played the nerd.  Estevez played the jock.  Despite their differences, the teens come to realize that they have a lot in common.

The cast went through a few changes.  Originally, Ringwald was offered the role of outsider, Allison.  She was upset because she really wanted to play the snooty Claire.  Estevez was originally cast as Bender, the kid from the wrong side of the tracks.  But Hughes was having trouble finding someone to play the part of John the jock.  So Hughes had him switch roles.  Hughes wanted Nicolas Cage to play Bender, but he asked for too much money.  Next, Hughes cast John Cusack in the role.  But he later changed his mind.  Thinking that Cusack didn’t look intimidating enough, Hughes replaced him with Nelson.  Rick Moranis was cast as the janitor, but he left over creative differences with Hughes.

The cast rehearsed the movie several times like a play.  It was shot sequentially and several scenes were improvised.  The scene in which the kids reveal their reasons for being sent to detention was completely unscripted.

During filming, John Kapelos who replaced Moranis as the janitor, joked with the young actors.  He warned them to be careful not to be too intense and reminded them that Martin Sheen had a heart attack while filming Apocalypse Now.  Estevez was offended by the remark, but Kapelos had no idea at the time that Estevez was Sheen’s son.  Estevez accepted Kapelos’ apology, but the actor felt bad about the incident for years afterwards.  In 1999, Kapelos met Sheen on the set of The West Wing and told him about the embarrassing incident.  Sheen thought it was hysterical.

Critics were divided on The Breakfast Club.  No seriously, they were.  I know, you’re looking at Rotten Tomatoes where the movie is certified “fresh”.  But go back and read the original reviews from when the movie was released.  For every positive review from someone like Roger Ebert, there’s a critic who was put off by the movie’s teen angst stereotypes like Janey Maslin.  Over time, the movie has become a beloved classic.  But when it was actually released, The Breakfast Club received mixed reviews.

It was however a hit at the box office.  The Breakfast Club opened in third place behind Beverly Hills Cop and Witness.  Third place may not seem great, but the movie was reported to cost about a million dollars and it grossed five times that in its first weekend.  It went on to gross $45 million dollars during its domestic run making it an extremely profitable movie.

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Emilio Estevez – St Elmo’s Fire – 1985

Estevez followed up The Breakfast Club by appearing in Joel Schumacher’s coming-of-age drama, St. Elmo’s Fire.

The movie focused on a group of friends who have just graduated from college.  They relationships are tested as they try to adjust to adulthood.  Estevez played a waiter who romances a hospital intern played by Andie MacDowell.  Andrew McCartrhy played Estevez’s roommate, a writer with a secret crush on Ally Sheedy’s character.  Sheedy and Judd Nelson play a couple of yuppies in an upwardly mobile relationship.  Rob Lowe played a former frat boy who is struggling with family life and Demi Moore played the party girl of the group.  Mare Winningham played the friend who helps all the others out.

Several studios passed on St. Elmo’s Fire.  According to Schumacher, “the head of one major studio called its seven-member cast ‘the most loathsome humans he had ever read on the page.'”  Finding seven young stars proved a challenge.  Hundreds of actors were interviewed.  Sheedy, Estevez and Nelson were recommended to producer  Lauren Shuler Donner by John Hughes.  Schumacher said he had to fight the studio over the casting of Estevez, Nelson, and McCarthy.

St. Elmo’s Fire received mostly negative reviews.  It opened in fourth place at the box office behind Rambo: First Blood Part II which had been in theaters for six weeks.  That doesn’t sound like the most auspicious opening, but St. Elmo’s Fire went on to gross close to $40 million dollars on a $10 million dollar budget.  It cost more and grossed less than The Breakfast Club.  But it was still the 23rd highest grossing movie of the year.  And despite being viewed as inferior to John Hughes’ movie, St. Elmo’s Fire has become a Gen-X favorite on video.

Brat Pack New York Magazine
Hollywood’s Brat Pack – New York Magazine Cover – 1985

Just before the release of St. Elmo’s Fire, New York Magazine ran an article titled Hollywood’s Brat Pack.  The author, David Blum, was planning to write and article about Estevez.  Estevez invited the writer to hang out with him, Judd Nelson and Rob Lowe one night at the Hard Rock Cafe.  After watching the young actors party, Blum decided to change the focus of his article from Estevez to the entire group of young actors.  He coined the term Brat Pack as a derogatory comparison to the Rat Pack of the 60s.  As the groups leader, Estevez was the Frank Sinatra of the group.

The tone of the article was sneering.  Blum lingered on embarrassing details like Nelson dancing by himself or the lengths Estevez would go to in order to avoid paying for a ticket to see Ladyhawke.  He gripes that the young actors have not studied their craft and points out that none of the core members of the Brat Pack graduated from college.  The article portrays them all as privileged and oblivious.  In short, it sounds like an old person complaining about “kids these days”.

When the article was released, it sent a shockwave through the group.  Estevez in particular felt betrayed.  He had trusted Blum.  But his trust was misplaced.  Blum was jealous of the young actors and sought to punish them for their carefree lifestyle.  The article and the Brat Pack label attached a stigma to the young Hollywood actors.  Previously, they had been viewed as talented performers who would go on to have long careers.  But after Blum’s article, they were viewed as a bunch of frat boys.

The impact wasn’t just professional.  It also fractured the group’s social dynamic.  According to Sheedy, “The article just destroyed it. I had felt truly a part of something, and that guy just blew it to pieces.”

Even Blum came to regret coining the term Brat Pack.  In 2010, he admitted that he shouldn’t have written the article.

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Emilio Estevez – That Was Then, This Is Now – 1985

Estevez wrapped up 1985 by starring in another S.E. Hinton adaptation, That Was Then, This Is Now.

Craig Sheffer and Estevez played childhood friends who begin to grow apart when Sheffer starts hanging out with a girl played by Kim Delaney.  Feeling isolated, Estevez’s character turns to drugs and gets into trouble.

Estevez adapted the novel into a screenplay.  The novel was a more direct follow-up to The Outsiders.  C. Thomas Howell reprised his role as Ponyboy, but the rivalry between the Greasers and the Socs was dropped from the movie so that it could tell a stand-alone story.  This is the only adaptation of a Hinton novel without her direct involvement.  It is also the only one not to feature Matt Dillon.

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Emilio Estevez and Demi Moore

In 1985, following her divorce from rock star Freddy Moore, Estevez started dating his St Elmo’s Fire co-star, Demi Moore.  The couple announced their engagement and plans to be married the following year.  But in 1986, they mutually called off their engagement.

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Emilio Estevez – Maximum Overdrive – 1986

In 1986, Estevez attempted to shed his Brat Pack image by starring in Stephen King’s killer truck movie, Maximum Overdrive.

Estevez played an ex-con who works at a truckstop.  Machines around the world come to life and turn on their creators when the earth passes through the tail of a comet.  Estevez has to lead a group of survivors at the truck stop when they are attacked by sentient trucks.

Maximum Overdrive was loosely based on King’s short story, Trucks.  King adapted his own story.  It was his directorial debut.  It was also the last movie he ever directed.  When asked why, King replied “Just watch Maximum Overdrive.”  King later admitted that he was “coked out of his mind” through the entire production and that he didn’t know what he was doing.  He has identified Maximum Overdrive as the worst adaptation of one of his works.

King wasn’t the only one who was critical of his movie.  It was panned by critics.  King was nominated for a Golden Raspberry for Worst Director and Estevez was nominated for Worst Actor.  Both lost to Prince for Under the Cherry Moon.

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Emilio Estevez and Demi Moore – Wisdom – 1986

In 1986, Estevez made his directorial debut with the crime drama, Wisdom.

Estevez starred as John Wisdom, a recent graduate with a ridiculous name.  Wisdom can’t find work because of a felony conviction for grand theft auto.  So he becomes a self-styled Robin Hood robbing banks to support American farmers.  Estevez’s real-life fiancee (at the time), Demi Moore, co-starred as Estevez’s girlfriend who accompanies him on his crime spree.  It’s the Brat Pack Bonnie and Clyde with a little 80’s Farm Aid mixed in.

With Wisdom, Estevez became the youngest person ever to write, direct and star in a major motion picture.  Unfortunately, the young sometimes lack a certain trait… what could it be… oh right:  Wisdom.  Critics were not kind to the young auteur.  Leonard Maltin called Wisdom “wretchedly scripted, with one of the most self-defeating wrap-ups you’ll ever see.”  Spoiler alert, yeah it’s all a dream.  Wisdom was a box office flop.  Years later, Estevez dismissed it as a “total vanity project.”

Emilio Estevez - Stakeout - 1987
Emilio Estevez – Stakeout – 1987

In 1987, Estevez bounced back in John Badham’s cop comedy, Stakeout.

Richard Dreyfuss and Estevez starred as a couple of detectives who are assigned to a stakeout.  They are keeping an eye on a waitress played by Madeleine Stowe.  Not surprisingly, Dreyfuss’ character falls for the subject of their stakeout.  She’s played by Madeleine Stowe!  Unfortunately, her boyfriend is an escaped convict wanted for killing an FBI agent.

During filming, Estevez and Dreyfuss passed the time with a movie trivia game.  Estevez asked Dreyfuss to identify the line “This was no boating accident.”  Dreyfuss was stumped in spite of the fact he delivered the line himself in Jaws.  Everyone was so entertained that the exchange was reenacted in the movie.

Stakeout received positive reviews and was a hit at the box office.

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Emilio Estevez – Young Guns – 1987

In 1987, Estevez starred in the Brat Pack Western, Young Guns.

Estevez played Billy the Kid.  He and his friends played by Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen and Dermot Mulroney are taken in by a rancher played by Terrence Stamp.  Perpetual 80’s bad guy, Jack Palance, played a rival rancher whose men kill Stamp.  Estevez and his young guns become deputies to avenge their benefactor.  But they go too far and become outlaws themselves.

Estevez was depressed about a recent break-up (presumably Moore but I could not confirm this).  To cheer him up, Phillips played a prank.  Phillips had the wardrobe department put make-up on a sheep, dress it up, and put in Estevez’s room.  No one knows exactly what happened that night, but Estevez’s mood was markedly improved the next morning.  The sheep was unavailable for comment.

Tom Cruise has an uncredited cameo during the climactic shoot out.  Country singer Randy Travis also made an appearance as the Gatling Gun Operator.  Estevez, during one of his days off, rode as one of the bad guys.  Reportedly, Sheen was a terrible horse rider.  He had trouble keeping his balance and fell off the horse several times.  At one point, his horse took off with him on it and he had no idea how to get the horse to stop.

Despite mixed reviews, Young Guns was a hit at the box office.

Emilio Estevez - Never on a Tuesday - 1989
Emilio Estevez – Never on a Tuesday – 1989

Estevez also had an uncredited cameo in the indie comedy, Never on a Tuesday.  Estevez and Carey Elwes showed up as tow truck drivers.  The movie had a minuscule budget, but Elwes’ brother was the executive producer and the make-up artist was the future wife of Rob Lowe.  With those Brat Pack ties, the movie was able to secure an impressive line-up of cameos.  Nicolas Cage, Judd Nelson and Charlie Sheen also made appearances.

Emilio Estevez and Lea Thompson - Nightbreaker - 1989
Emilio Estevez and Lea Thompson – Nightbreaker – 1989

In 1989, Estevez appeared in the TV movie, Nightbreaker.

Martin Sheen played Dr. Alexander Brown, a scientist being awarded for his recent medical invention.  He is approached by a former GI who claims to be dying from cancer caused by exposure to radiation when he served as a test subject in the 1950’s.  Estevez, played the doctor in flashbacks.  The young doctor and a colleague played by Lea Thompson interview the test subjects who are completely unaware of the danger of the radiation they are being exposed to.

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Emilio Estevez and Christian Slater – Young Guns II – 1990

In 1990, Estevez reunited with Kiefer Sutherland and Lou Diamond Phillips for Young Guns II.

The movie follows the latter half of Billy the Kid’s career during which he was pursued by his former partner, Pat Garrett played by William Petersen.  Christian Slater played the gang’s new bad boy.

The on-set pranks continued on the sequel.  This time, Estevez pranked Sutherland while he was filming a scene in a bathtub.  Estevez, apparently a fan of the movie Caddyshack, slipped a Baby Ruth candy bar into the tub so it would float to the surface while Sutherland was shooting the scene.

Phillips was involved in a close call during the making of Young Guns II.  His horse became spooked by the sound of Estevez shooting.  The horse threw Phillips and dragged him by the noose.  Phillips broke an arm and a kneecap in the injury.  As a result, a scene was added to the movie in which Slater’s character stabs him in the arm.

Estevez approached Jon Bon Jovi about the idea of using the song Dead or Alive in the movie.  Bon Jovi didn’t think the song was quite appropriate, but he liked the idea well enough to record Blaze of Glory specifically for the movie.  He also has a cameo.

Like the first film, Young Guns 2 got mixed reviews and performed reasonably well at the box office.  It opened in third place at the box office behind Presumed Innocent which was in its second week in theaters.

Emilio Estevez - Men at Work - 1990
Emilio Estevez – Men at Work – 1990

Later that year, Estevez wrote, directed and starred in the garbage man comedy, Men and Work.

Estevez co-starred with his brother, Charlie Sheen.  The two played garbage men who mistakenly believe they have killed a man,

Men at Work was Estevez’s first screenplay.  It was actually written before and referenced in the New York magazine article about the Brat Pack.  The original title was Clear Intent.  In the article, Estevez discussed the possibility of making the movie with one of his other Brat Pack friends.  Ultimately, Carey Elwes’ brother, Cassian Elwes, who produced Never on a Tuesday, produced the low budget comedy starring Estevez and his brother.

The on-set hijinks continued on Men at Work.  Sheen told his brother that he had punched a paparazzo in a restaurant on the night before filming.  Then he had an on-set police officer who was working security pretend to arrest him for assault while he was filming a scene.  Estevez was stunned until his brother started cracking up laughing.

Men at Work received most negative reviews.  But it did well at the box office in relation to its modest costs and has become a bit of a cult movie on video.  Estevez claims that fans approach him and tell him that it is the “funniest movie they have ever seen”.  He responds that these people need to see more movies.

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Emilio Estevez and Rene Russo – Freejack – 1992

In 1992, Estevez appeared opposite Rene Russo, Mick Jagger and Anthony Hopkins in the sci-fi flick, Freejack.

Estevez played a race car driver who died in a car accident.  Only, before he was actually killed, he was transported into the far away future of 2009!  In the future, his body is for sale.  A rich man played by Anthony Hopkins has purchased it so that he can transfer his mind into Estevez’s body and go on living.  Rolling Stones’ frontman, Jagger, played a mercenary tasked with delivering Estevez to Hopkins for the transfer.

Russo played Estevez’s fiancée who sees him die only to be reunited with him in the future.  Well, their future.  Our past.  Linda Fiorentino was originally cast as Julie but was replaced by Russo.

Freejack got terrible reviews and flopped at the box office.

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Emilio Estevez – The Might Ducks – 1992

Later that year, Estevez starred in the kids’ hockey movie, The Mighty Ducks.

Estevez played Gordon Bombay, a self-centered lawyer sentenced to community service as a hockey coach for a rag-tag pee wee hockey team.  It’s basically The Bad News Bears on ice.  The screenwriter, Steven Brill, openly admits that was his intent when writing the script.

Like the kids in the movie, The Mighty Ducks was an underdog story.  Brill wrote the script while he was unemployed.  He was able to sell the idea to Disney largely because Disney CEO Michael Eisner had done the original Bad News Bears in his previous job as the studio head at Paramount and his kids played hockey.  So he was receptive to the idea of a kids’ hockey movie.  Brill had wanted to cast his friend and roommate, Peter Berg, as the coach.  But the folks at Disney shot that down right away.  According to Berg:

I was sort of starting out as an actor, and the plan was originally that I was going to star in it. We went in there and Steve said, “Here’s my man.” And the financiers kind of looked at me and then looked at Steve and were like, “Yeah. No, he’s not your man, Steve.” So, Emilio Estevez was the man, and, you know, the rest is history.

The movie was shot in the extreme cold in Minnesota.  At one point, Estevez filmed a kiss with Heidi Kling.  It was so cold that the actors’ lips froze together.  The crew had to use droplets of warm water to separate them.

Despite negative reviews, The Mighty Ducks was surprisingly successful at the box office.  It opened in second place behind The Last of the Mohicans which was in its second week of release.  But it was ahead of two other new releases, Mr. Baseball and Hero.  More impressive still, it did better in its second weekend than it did in the first week.  It ended up grossing over $50 million dollars on a $10 million dollar budget.  The success got Eisner thinking about other possibilities which we will get to in a minute…

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Emilio Estevez and Paula Abdul

Also in 1992, Estevez married pop star and future American Idol judge/looney, Paula Abdul.  The marriage was didn’t last as long as the Mighty Ducks franchise.  The couple divorced in 1994.  The stated reason for the divorce was that Abdul wanted children and Estevez already had two from a previous relationship.  The unstated reason may have been that Abdul was crazy.  The divorce was amicable.  Estevez and Abdul remain friends.  Abdul remarried in 1996 only to redivorce in 1998.

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Emilio Estevez – National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1 – 1993

By 1993, most of the Brat Pack was struggling to remain relevant.  But Estevez starred in three movies that year.  First he co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson in the Lethal Weapon farce, National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1.

Not that the plot really matters, but here it is anyway.  In an uncredited cameo, Whoopi Goldberg played an LA detective who is murdered by Tim Curry for a piece of microfilm that contains a recipe for cocaine-laced cookies.  His evil plan is to dose the Wilderness Girl cookies and spread drugs across the country.  Samuel L. Jackson played her former partner who takes on the case to avenge her murder.  And Estevez played a loose canon cop modeled after Mel Gibson.

The movie was loaded with celebrity cameos.  William Shatner, James Doohan, Jon Lovitz, Kathy Ireland, Denis Leary, F. Murray Abraham, Erik Estrada, Corey Feldman, Phil Hartman, Bruce Willis and Charlie Sheen all made appearances.  Sheen’s future wife, Denise Richards, made her big screen debut in the movie as well.

There were plans to make a sequel.  They even had a poster printed with the tag line “Oh come ON, you knew it was coming!”  But the movie got bad reviews and did so-so at the box office.  So the planned sequel was never made.

Estevez - Another Stakeout
Emilio Estevez – Another Stakeout – 1993

Speaking of sequels, Estevez’s next movie was Another Stakeout.

The title kind of says it all.  The cops played by Estevez and Dreyfuss in the first movie go on another stakeout.  Only this time, they are joined by Rosie O’Donnell and her dog.  Madeleine Stowe appeared in an uncredited cameo.  Most disappointingly both Estevez and Dreyfuss shaved their mustaches for the sequel.

I’m going to give Hollywood a little free advice.  If you are making a sequel, don’t use the word “another” in the title.  Why do I want to see “another stakeout.”  I already saw the first one.  Give me something more.  By 1993, it had been six years since the original Stakeout which was a modest hit to begin with,  So there wasn’t a huge appetite for Another Stakeout … even one with the questionable box office allure of Rosie O’Donnell.

Reviews were negative and the movie opened at an embarrassing 9th place at the box office.  In the end, it grossed about $20 million dollars on a $30 million dollar budget effectively ending the Stakeout franchise.

gooding - judgement night
Emilio Estevez and Cuba Gooding Jr. – Judgement Night – 1993

Estevez ended 1993 by starring in the thriller, Judgement Night.

Estevez, Cuba Gooding Jr, Jeremy Piven, Dennis Leary and Stephen Dorff play a group of friends who get into trouble when they take a short cut through a bad part of town on their way to a boxing match.  On their way, they witness a murder.  Dennis Leary played a drug dealer who doesn’t want to leave behind any witnesses.

The studio wasn’t happy with Estevez as the lead.  They cast him out of desperation after several other actors passed including Estevez’s friend, Tom Cruise and his Young Guns 2 co-star Christian Slater.  According to Variety, Estevez was able to secure a bigger payday because the studio was running out of options.

At the time, Estevez was looking to break away from his Brat Pack image.  And the rest of the cast were up-and-comers.  Gooding, Piven, Dorf and Leary were all seen as tremendously promising actors.  But Judgment Night failed them all.  Reviews were bad and the movie bombed.

MSDDETW EC003
Emilio Estevez – D2: The Mighty Ducks – 1994

In 1994, Estevez returned to the Mighty Ducks franchise for D2: The Mighty Ducks.

In the sequel, Estevez ends up coaching the US hockey team Team USA Hockey for the Junior Goodwill Games in California.  He recruits many players from the original movie along with a few new players.

The first movie was a surprise hit.  But it wasn’t really big enough to necessitate a sequel.  The motivation for making Mighty Ducks 2 is somewhat unique.  Disney CEO Michael Eisner decided he wanted to buy the Anaheim hockey team.  Disneyland is located in Anaheim, CA and the city had an arena that wasn’t doing very well.  Disney was set to open another theme park in Anaheim and according to Eisner:

I was thinking, “Boy, we’re building a second park in Anaheim, and they were really having trouble with this arena. Maybe I could be helpful to Anaheim and bring a hockey team to the arena, which otherwise was sort of millstone around Anaheim’s neck.”

Also, I think he just liked the idea of buying a sports team.  So in typical Disney fashion, Eisner came up with all kinds of cross-promotional ideas.  He greenlit the Mighty Ducks sequel and named his new hockey team after the movie.  A Mighty Ducks cartoon started in 1996.  In 1999, Disney opened the All-Star Movies resort in Disney World in Orlando, Florida.  Four movies were picked to be represented in the resort; 101 Dalmatians, Toy Story,Fantasia, Herbie: The Love Bug and The Mighty Ducks.

all star movies mighty ducks
All-Star Movies Resort – Might Ducks Bldg.

It seems a bit odd now when the Mighty Ducks movies aren’t as relevant as they used to be.  Disney actually sold the team in 2005 after Michael Eisner had left the company.  But the hotel remains as a reminder that the previous CEO’s kids played hockey.

Estevez - Mission Impossible
Emilio Estevez – Mission Impossible – 1996

In 1996, Estevez had a small role in the Brian De Palma’s spy thriller, Mission Impossible.

Mission Impossible was based on a TV series about a team of spies who performed top secret and highly implausible missions.  Tom Cruise had been shopping for an action franchise he could star in.  So he mostly did away with the team concept in the first third of the movie.  The premise of the movie has the team fall apart with his character framed as a traitor.

Estevez and Cruise had been friends since before either one of them was a star.  They auditioned for The Outsiders together and Cruise did an uncredited cameo in Young Guns.

Peter Graves refused to reprise his role from the TV show.  *spoilers*  In the movie, Jim Phelps turns out to be the villain.  This upset the actor who played him and fans of the original TV show.  Instead, Jon Voight stepped in as Phelps.  Estevez’s character was killed off early in the film.  The idea was that it would shock the audience to see a well-known actor die so early in the movie.

Martin Landau also turned down the chance to reprise his role from the TV show:

When they were working on an early incarnation of the first one — not the script they ultimately did — they wanted the entire team to be destroyed, done away with one at a time, and I was against that. It was basically an action-adventure movie and not Mission.Mission was a mind game. The ideal mission was getting in and getting out without anyone ever knowing we were there. So the whole texture changed. Why volunteer to essentially have our characters commit suicide? I passed on it.

Despite the protests from fans and the original cast and mixed reviews from critics, Mission Impossible was a smash hit which has generated three sequels to date.  A fifth film is reportedly in the works.

Emilio Estevez - D3: The Mighty Ducks - 1996
Emilio Estevez – D3: The Mighty Ducks – 1996

Later that year, Estevez completed the Mighty Ducks trilogy with D3: The Mighty Ducks.

In this one, the Ducks get scholarships to a prep school where they have to take on a snooty varsity team.  It’s The Bad News Bears meets Animal House.  Or something.

Estevez limited his involvement in the third movie.  According to Steven Brill who wrote all three movies, “Emilio was directing a movie and made a deal where he would do whatever he did in our movie, three days’ work or four — a week’s work, a symbolic visit.”

The critics didn’t like the third Mighty Ducks any more than they liked the first two.  But unlike the first two, Might Ducks 3 was not a hit at the box office.  It opened in fourth place and grossed just over $22 million.  It basically ended the franchise.  I say “basically” because there have been talks of reviving the series because that’s what studios do these days.

It’s easy to dismiss The Mighty Ducks movies.  I know I do.  But for a certain generation of kids who grew up on them, these movies are fondly remembered.  According to Eisner, the Disney CEO who championed the series:

The films did well. People liked them. They were fun. They were, you know, good Disney products. So in those days of Disney, we were trying to reinvent the brand and strengthen the brand and this was an important part of it. And they did a good job obviously. They wouldn’t have they made three if they hadn’t. So, yeah, it was a good period of time for Disney, taking a company that had kind of not made a lot of movies into more the modern era.

Estevez - The War at Home
Emilio Estevez – The War at Home – 1996

Just a few weeks after Mighty Ducks 3 hit theaters, Estevez played a Vietnam veteran in the drama, The War at Home.

Estevez played a vet suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.  Martin Sheen and Kathy Bates played his parents who do not understand what their son is going through.  Kimberly Williams played his younger sister,

This is the movie Estevez was directing that prevented him from participating more fully in Mighty Ducks 3.  Under his deal with Disney, he appeared for a few days in the third Mighty Ducks and the studio provided $3 million dollars to finance The War at Home.  Estevez cast his father, his sister, Renee Estevez and his daughter, Paloma Estevez.

Reviews were mixed.  But Disney dumped the movie in 4 theaters with very little advertising.  It bombed.  It grossed less than $50,000.  Reportedly, Estevez contemplating quitting the movies after The War at Home performed so poorly.  While he didn’t actually quit, he definitely slowed down.

Emilio Estevez - Dollar for the Dead - 1998
Emilio Estevez – Dollar for the Dead – 1998

In 1998, Estevez starred in the TNT movie, Dollar for the Dead.  The Wikipedia entry for this movie is classic.  So I am just going to quote it for the plot summary:

Lone super-quick gunslinger “nameless” Cowboy (Estevez) on the run from a rancher (Howie Long) and his men out to kill him for killing his son. When former Confederate soldier (William Forsythe) saw how can Cowboy defend himself, even dropping a drink, pulling and shooting a guy, and catching his drink before it hits the floor. Cowboy gets mixed up with this soldier who has knowledge of hidden gold. So, Cowboy and Dooley, the Soldier tries to complete their map and find the gold because Dooley has only one part of the map. And also Col. Skinner (Redleg commander) on the tale of Dooley.

When Cowboy and Dooley free a man (Ed Lauter) with part of the map to the gold, they then are also pursued by Spanish soldiers. It all leads to a small Mexican town terrorized by soldiers and led a by a good priest (Joaquin De Almeida) who is another one which has knowledge of the hidden gold.

That summary reads like it was transcribed from a foreign language by someone who has knowledge of liquor.

The movie was a tribute to/rip-off of the spaghetti westerns with liberal doses of Hong Kong action mixed in for fun.  It’s a movie for people who think Clint Eastwood movies could be improved upon by replacing the legendary cowboy with the Mighty Ducks guy.

estevez - late last night
Emilio Estevez – Late Last Night – 1999

In 1999, Estevez starred opposite Steven Weber in the midlife crisis comedy, Late Last Night.

Estevez played an entertainment lawyer who is sentenced to community service babysitting Weber. No, actually his wife is leaving him so he voluntarily hangs out with Weber because he mistakenly believes that doing drugs with the guy from Wings is a good idea.

The movie was written and directed by Steven Brill who wrote all three Mighty Ducks movies.

estevez - rated x
Emilio Estevez – Rated X – 2000

In 2000, Estevez and Charlie Sheen played brothers in the biopic, Rated X.

The movie is based on the true story of Jim and Artie Mitchell, the brothers responsible for 70s porn movies like Behind the Green Door and Inside Marilyn Chambers.  Tracy Hutson played Chambers.

Sean Penn had previously tried to make a big budget movie about the Mitchell brothers starring Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro.  When that didn’t work out, William and Alec Baldwin attempted to make a movie together.  But that fell through too.

Showtime sent the script for their Mitchell brothers movie to Charlie Sheen and asked him to play Artie. At that time they had no one in mind for Jim. Sheen then sent the script on to Estevez, who decided he wanted to direct it. Sheen went back to Showtime and agreed to star on the condition that Estevez co-star and direct.  The movie only had six weeks of prep time and Showtime wanted the movie to be shot in 24 days.  Estevez and Sheen both gave up part of their salaries so they could get more shooting days.  They wanted 50 but had to settle for 36.

The movie was shown at Sundance before it debuted on Showtime.

Emilio Estevez - Sand - 2000
Emilio Estevez – Sand – 2000

Later that year, Estevez appeared in the thriller, Sand.

Michael Vartan starred as a guy hiding out from his violent brothers.  He moves to the beach and makes friends with a pre-Walking Dead Norman Reedus and starts dating Reedus’ sister played by Kari Wuhrer.  Yeah, she named Sandy.  Eventually his brothers track him down and things get rapey.

Sand reunited Estevez with his Repo Man co-star, Harry Dean Stanton.  It was also his third movie with Dennis Leary.  Julie Delpy and Jon Lovitz also show up.

In 2003, Estevez had an uncredited cameo playing his dad as a younger man on the TV drama, The West Wing.  He and Martin Sheen also did voice work on the English dub of the Spanish Christmas cartoon, Los Reyes Magos or The Three Wise Men.  In 2005, Estevez directed but did not appear in a documentary called Culture Clash in AmeriCCa.  He also appeared in a social satire called The L.A. Riot Spectacular about the 1992 LA riots.

That one starred Snoop Dogg.

estevez - bobby
Emilio Estevez – Bobby – 2006

In 2006, Estvez wrote, directed and appeared in Bobby, a fictionalized account of the assassination of Bobby Kennedy.

This movie keeps popping up in WTHH articles.  It co-stars Estevez’s former fiancee, Demi Moore, Heather Graham, Helen Hunt, Christian Slater, Lindsay Lohan and Sharon Stone.  Plus a few other actors who are sure to be featured in future articles.

Estevez had a hard time making this movie.  At one point, he had about thirty pages written when a case of writer’s block stalled him.  He showed the pages to Charlie Sheen who encouraged him to finish writing.  In order to finance the movie, Estevez had to sell off parts of his art collection and other items of value.

Emilio Estevez - Two and a Half Men - 2008
Emilio Estevez – Two and a Half Men – 2008

In 2008, Estevez appeared on his brother’s hit sitcom, Two and a Half Men.

estevez-the-way
Emilio Estevez – The Way – 2010

In 2010, Estevez wrote, directed and appeared in The Way.

Martin Sheen starred as a father heads overseas to recover the body of his estranged son (Estevez) who died while traveling the “El camino de Santiago.”  Along the way, he decides to take the pilgrimage himself.

The Way started when Estevez’s son, Taylor, went on the pilgrimage with his grandfather while The West Wing was on hiatus.  While they were there, Taylor met his future wife.  When they returned, Sheen suggested that Estevez should make a documentary about “El camino de Santiago.”  But Estevez wanted to do something bigger.

The reviews were mostly positive.  It is probably the best-reviewed movie Estevez has ever directed.

So, what the hell happened?

It’s pretty easy to cite the Brat Pack backlash.  It was definitely responsible for ending a lot of careers early.  After the 80’s ended, a lot of Brat Packers couldn’t get work.  Compared to a lot of his peers, Estevez actually made the transition into the 90s relatively gracefully.  But once the Stakeouts, Young Guns and Mighty Ducks movies ran out of steam, Estevez didn’t have anything else to fall back on.  And he didn’t seem all that interested in trying.  Instead, he invested his heart into directing.  But his career as a director never really took off the way he probably hoped it would.

Since then, Estevez has been slowly making movies that interest him.  And based on the reviews, it would appear he has grown as a filmmaker.  His brother is living in the spotlight.  Estevez seems happy to live a stable life as a family man away from public scrutiny.

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daffystardust
Editor
9 years ago

Some nice goofs in this one, Lebeau! I particularly like the Wikipedia quote and Anakin’s review of Sand. From an entirely personal point of view, it seems to me that Estevez just didn’t make any good movies between the time I graduated from high school and when I graduated from college. The run of Men at Work, Freejack, The Mighty Ducks, Loaded Weapon, Another Stakeout, Judgement Night, and D2 is pretty bad. Despite the kids hockey movies doing decent box office, it’s hard to look at that track record and think he would see much success going forward. He must… Read more »

daffystardust
Editor
9 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Yeah, I really don’t have much nostalgia for Pete’s Dragon. “Every Little Piece” is great, but otherwise…meh. Helen Reddy’s voice just screams the worst of mainstream 70s culture when I hear her. The best of 70s culture was mostly not available to me during the 70s because I was a kid, so I was actively of the opinion that the 70s sucked when I was living through them. I do have some friends who love Pete’s Dragon quite a lot. Other peers also love Goonies for some reason. Goonies is awful. I have to admit that I’ve never actually seen… Read more »

jeffthewildman
9 years ago
Reply to  daffystardust

Basically, a lot of the stuff from my childhood that still holds up is the good stuff (Ghostbusters, Beetlejuice). One movie from that era I still consider a guilty pleasure is Red Dawn. Yes its plot is extremely dumb and it’s more than a tad jingoistic. But I still see it as a fun piece of what might have been fiction. On the other hand, I’ve come to regard Short Circuit as a loose ET rip, although I maintain Newton Crosby is still a cool character. The 80s were more the era of guilty pleasures as (like Daffy was in… Read more »

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  lebeau
Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  lebeau

10 MORE Oscar non-starters: http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/10-more-would-be-oscar-contenders-that-went-nowhere “Bobby” Year: 2006 Director: Emilio Estevez Stars: Harry Belafonte, Nick Cannon, Emilio Estevez, Laurence Fishburne, Heather Graham, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, Joshua Jackson, Ashton Kutcher, Shia LaBeouf, Lindsay Lohan, William H. Macy, Demi Moore, Freddy Rodriguez, Martin Sheen, Christian Slater, Sharon Stone, Elijah Wood What happened: As you can see, Estevez recruited quite the ensemble for this cross section of lives inside the Ambassador Hotel the day Robert Kennedy was assassinated. It even worked out for SAG ensemble and Golden Globe Best Picture nominations, but Oscar stayed away. It was a baity piece of work… Read more »

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  lebeau

I read a theory on IMDb that Emilio’s issue or problem if you will (regarding his lack of input) is that he simply didn’t want to “play the game”. What I’m trying to say is that Emilio wants to do solid character work and make his own films (instead of being an actor/director for hire), but Hollywood for the most part, isn’t interested in the movies/stories that Emilio wants to tell. So maybe if Emilio was more flexible and was willing to make movies that the studios/general public wanted to see (instead of being so hard-nosed and standing his ground),… Read more »

Dawn
Dawn
9 years ago

Great article, as always! I recently watched The Way and really enjoyed it. I’d love to see more of his writing and directing work in the future.

musclehead
musclehead
9 years ago

his brother charlie career died then to 2 and a half men sitcom brought him back elmo needs a sitcom like that

daffystardust
Editor
9 years ago
Reply to  musclehead

I agree that Elmo needs a sitcom. I probably wouldn’t watch it because his high-pitched voice bothers me, but I still feel like it is something that would make the world better.

musclehead
musclehead
9 years ago

he did play charlies friend died but him and matthew broderick would fit in sitcom

gluserty
4 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Old post, but I agree with you: “Alone in the Dark” is better than one would think; I remember the VHS cover from when I was a kid, so I rented it from Nexflix in 2014. I feel it’s a good thriller, and Jack Sholder was a very capable director (I also love 1987’s “The Hidden”). As a bonus for me, I related to Leigh Taylor-Allan’s Toni Potter character and her condition; I’ve been where she was mentally (minus seeing monsters), so that added pathos for me.

RB
RB
9 years ago

Interestingly (to me anyway) is that unlike many of the WTHH subjects whose filmographies have considerably more heft, I am actually familiar with almost all of Emilio Estevez’s work. Only one or two “he was in what” moments while reading the article. And of course I’ve seen pretty much every one of the Brat Pack line of movies. I distinctly remember when that mag article came out and thinking it was a hatchet job even back then! What seems to get lost is that the 80s era actors and actresses really did bring something to the screen apart from bone… Read more »

RB
RB
9 years ago
Reply to  RB

Too bad I can’t edit that last sentence, as I see it, but running late as usual 🙂

RB
RB
9 years ago

Check out the Wiki page for St.Elmo’s Fire – seriously, there is a TV show in production based on the movie about 6 friends, 3 male and 3 female? That just hasn’t been done yet!!
BTW I’m on my lunch break.

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

What About Emilio? How pissed would you be if you were Emilio Estevez right now? http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/57093/what-about-emilio/ This has got to be one of those moments when Emilio Estevez must be really glad that he chose not to use his father’s stage name. Surprisingly, there are still a ton of people that have no clue Charlie Sheen and Estevez are brothers. Unfortunately, there are plenty more who probably think Estevez is already dead. As we all know Charlie Sheen has been makes news by setting a new land-speed record for celebrity flame outs, and he’s surprisingly gaining legions of fans in… Read more »

katt
katt
9 years ago

Typo alert.

You wrote (page 8, near the bottom), “In 1998, Estevez starred in the TNT movie, Dollar for the Dead. The Wikipedia entry for this movie is classic. So I am just going to quote ir for the plot summary:”

“ir” (I think you meant “it.”) 🙂

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

Top 10 Movie Stars Who Dropped Off the Map:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YgTSwBDIcc

Now you see them, now you don’t. Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we count down our picks for the top 10 movie stars who dropped off the map.

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

ONE HIT WONDERLAND: “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” by John Parr:
http://blip.tv/todds-pop-song-reviews/one-hit-wonderland-st-elmo-s-fire-man-in-motion-by-john-parr-7193560

Who the heck is St. Elmo anyway?

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

What Happened to Emilio Estevez – What is He Doing Now in 2015 http://gazettereview.com/2015/06/what-happened-to-emilio-estevez-what-is-he-doing-now-in-2015/ If you grew up in the 90’s, you probably remember Emilio Estevez best as plucky PeeWee hockey coach Gordon Bombay from the Mighty Ducks films. Bombay led the misfit Ducks to victory after victory, after inheriting the team as a punishment for drinking and driving (the 90’s were a very different time for the legal system). Then, in D2: The Mighty Ducks, Bombay brought in new recruits from all over the country and led the team to gold playing against the strangely villainous Icelandic team in… Read more »

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

Career Revivals You’d Like To See:
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=10652938&postcount=56

When the quality scripts stopped coming, rather than appear in a ton of crappy straight-to-DVD flicks to stay employed like Stephen Baldwin, Lou Diamond Phillips, Wesley Snipes and all have done, he seemed content to leave Hollywood and become a farmer and winemaker, only returning to direct if the script interested him enough.

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

Emilio is apparently very reclusive and private. He rarely makes public appearances, and is usually the only one absent from cast reunions for “The Breakfast Club”. When asked about this, he said “I’ve never been a guy that went out there to get publicity on myself. I never saw the value in it.”

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/charlie-sheen-emilio-estevez-tale-drastically-brothers/story?id=13347481

forrestbracket
forrestbracket
8 years ago

Interesting fact broderick was actually first choice for Alex P Keaton role but he turned it down to see his sick dad. This Emlo article reminds me sheens needs a page like this. He was rising start back in mid 80s to early 90s. Unfortunately bad film choices and drug problems tarnished that. His tenure on spin city gave lorre the idea he would do well on tv which lead to two and a half men. first 8 years were successful but lol i tihnk we all know how that ended up enough said.

Carl
Carl
8 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Seems like Hollywood suddenly decided to revive all kinds of 90s TV shows. Besides Twin Peaks there are Xena and X-Files reboots in the works, plus the Evil Dead movie trilogy from the 80s and early 90s is getting turned into a show too.

forrestbracket
forrestbracket
8 years ago

Back to sheen he truly is a great actor. He just chose to be a punchline instead after his off screen behavior. But watching Red Dawn ,platoon ,eight men out and wall street you can tell he had raw talent. HE just got lazy did lame action films then later half of 90s. In a way spin city is partially to blame for it. Chuck lorre cast sheen in Two and a Half men based on spin city role while two and a half men iwas my favourite show of all time (during the sheen era) it led to role… Read more »

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  forrestbracket

Re: More Heart breaking details is released about Charlie Sheen Vs his family… TEA SPILLING!

http://www.lipstickalley.com/showthread.php/983133-More-Heart-breaking-details-is-released-about-Charlie-Sheen-Vs-his-family-TEA-SPILLING!?p=25104442&viewfull=1#post25104442

All I got was that his daddy made him be respectful, just like most of our parents did. Martin isn’t responsible for the “GOD” complex that charlie has developed, HW & Charlie himself are. Emilio was the bigger star back in the 80’s & 90’s & he didn’t have these issues. If it was a home training thing, then Emilio would have been the original douche & charlie would be Emilio 2.0.

forrestbracket
forrestbracket
8 years ago

robin and phillip were too . sheen look at paychecks he was getting for two and a half men relized he can lots of money for playing variaton of himself. not that he did bad on the show he was funny on it e was the show. lebeau do you prefer sheen or fox in spin ity role and do remember the hype about fix being replaced was it as big as sheen two and a half men. i know spin city wasnt as popular as two and a half men and there was alot more contrevery in the show… Read more »

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  forrestbracket

Are the Charlie Sheen Episodes Worth Watching?

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=293380

forrestbracket
forrestbracket
8 years ago

u found spin city unique i didnt care for show but i will admit it was bettor with fox seasons then sheen the show i kind of forgotten now and is more talked about for fox leaving due to parks ions.

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  forrestbracket

Freakin’ Awesome Forums discussion: http://officialfan.proboards.com/thread/490906/spin-city Watching reruns of this series on FXX, and I must say Spin City is a very underrated series, it was very well written. The comic timing and the jokes intercepted very well, and some of the humor was intelligent and some of it was slapstick humor. I thought the show’s prime was season 2 or 3, that is when it found it’s niche, then Michael J. Fox and had to take time away from the show, and then leave, it was never the same. The last two seasons was Charlie Sheen, all I can say… Read more »

forrestbracket
forrestbracket
8 years ago

the spin city episodes with charlie are not worth wathcing. if fox replaced sheen in two and a half men i would say same. i think the idea of character like him fits the two and a half men show because its not a work place sitcom .the idea of him serving for mayor ridculous. plus last 2 seasons they made it about sheen and lockyear shoved cast to side. let me tell you healther lockyear had bad comic timing fox other love interest better. the show went through lots cast it was hard to keep track. the upside is… Read more »

RB
RB
8 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Totally agree and second your comment Glu.

forrestbracket
forrestbracket
8 years ago

but he did star in one of the most highest ratted show and appear in scarey movie its a step up spin city lead to it. do u remember if there was alot of hype for fox being replace so like sheen being fire.d the fox seasons better

forrestbracket
forrestbracket
8 years ago

it showed he had tv chops. Before spin city he was this washed up drug addicted movie star who couldnt open a film anymore this was only job he got. it led to two and a half men his biggest hit. michael j fox first annonced his parkinson in the show . the show was fairly popular during fox era. i could be wro ng i remeber it being refferenced alot it got lots of awards with fox it was in for 4 years with fox alot of grdeshcool teachers loved it. I would be lying if i said it… Read more »

forrestbracket
forrestbracket
8 years ago

like kutcher announcement for being cast. People where angry and automatically wrote it off as flop before it aired. sheen got hate mail too.

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