The Future Was Now: Madmen, Mavericks, and the Epic Sci-Fi Summer of 1982

“”Hollywood boldly went where it hadn’t gone before and Nashawaty chronicles the journeys.”” –Los Angeles Times (“”Books You Need To Read This Summer””) “”Written with a fan’s enthusiasm . . . An important inflection point in Hollywood filmmaking.”” — New York Times (“”Nonfiction Books to Read This Summer””) In the summer of 1982, eight science fiction films were released within six weeks of one another. E.T., Tron, Star Trek: Wrath of Khan, Conan the Barbarian, Blade Runner, Poltergeist, The Thing , and Mad Max: The Road Warrior c hanged the careers of some of Hollywood’s now biggest names–altering the art of movie-making to this day. In The Future Was Now , Chris Nashawaty recounts the riotous genesis of these films, featuring an all-star cast of Hollywood luminaries and gadflies alike: Steven Spielberg, at the height of his powers, conceives E.T. as an unlikely family tale, and quietly takes over the troubled production of Poltergeist , a horror film he had been nurturing for years. Ridley Scott, fresh off the success of Alien , tries his hand at an odd Philip K. Dick story that becomes Blade Runner — a box office failure turned cult classic. Similar stories arise for films like Tron, Conan the Barbarian, and The Thing. Taken as a whole, these films show a precarious turning-point in Hollywood history, when baffled film executives finally began to understand the potential of high-concept films with a rabid fanbase, merchandising potential, and endless possible sequels. Expertly researched, energetically told, and written with an unabashed love for the cinema, The Future Was Now is a chronicle of how the revolution sparked in a galaxy far, far away finally took root and changed Hollywood forever. —- ISBN: 9781250827050 | ISBN10: 1250827051 | ISBN-13: 978-1250827050