Next year, Stand By Me will turn 40.
I know. Take all the time you need to absorb and deal with that. It kinda snuck up on me, too.
We filmed Stand By Me in the summer of 1985, mostly in and around Brownsville, Oregon. At the end of production, we moved down to Burney, California, where we filmed the train trestle sequence. Then we wrapped, we all went home, and waited a year for the movie to be released. During that year, they changed the name from The Body to Stand By Me, and recast Richard Dreyfuss as the narrator.
During that year, I just waited. It never occurred to me to consider that it wouldn’t be released, though that was a very real possibility. In fact, when Stand By Me turned 25, Jerry, Corey, and I sat down with Rob Reiner and Richard Dreyfuss to revist production, Jerry told us that he didn’t think it would ever come out, because his dad had told him that most movies that are filmed don’t actually get released. I can’t imagine that year for him, feeling like all the work was going to go into a warehouse to be overseen by top men. I can’t imagine what all of our lives would we like if it had.
I’ve been thinking about production a lot this summer, because it’s wild to me that I know pretty much exactly where I was and what I was doing 40 years ago to the day, when I had no idea that … everything that happened would happen. It’s wild to me that I turned 13 FORTY years ago. It just doesn’t feel that far away.
ANYWAY. This is happening:
STAND BY ME: The Film and Its Stars 40 Years Later
A Night of Reflection, Connection, and the Friendships That Shape Us
with Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, and Wil Wheaton
Some stories don’t fade with time—they grow deeper. For 40 years, Stand By Me has spoken to something timeless in all of us: the wonder and heartbreak of growing up, the bonds we form in childhood, and the way those moments stay with us long after the journey ends.
Join us for a deeply special evening honoring one of the most beloved films of a generation. Experience Stand By Me on the big screen once more, followed by an intimate, long-awaited reunion and live, in-person conversation with the stars who lived it—Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, and Wil Wheaton.
Together, they’ll revisit the summer that changed everything—on set and on screen—sharing memories, laughter, and secrets behind a film that still brings people together after all these years. The evening will also include heartfelt reflections on working with their friend and co-star, the late River Phoenix, whose iconic performance continues to resonate with audiences around the world.
“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve.”
This night is for anyone who knows exactly what that means.
Tickets are available for two screenings:
These two events will obviously be extremely special to me (I don’t want to speak for the other guys, but I strongly suspect they would say the same thing), and we are doing them with an eye toward doing screenings in a few different cities next year. These screenings will tell us what we need to know, so we can plan accordingly. I have SO MANY ideas to do some genuinely special things, so cross all your fingers.
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I’d love a screening on the west coast. Bellingham WA is lovely all year round. 😁
Seconded
SoCal please!! Pretty pretty please!
Sigh, I was in my sophomore year of college in 1985/6. While I am familiar with it, SBM was not my defining movie-Breakfast Club was.
I consider myself GenX-do you consider yourself a Millenial, Wil? Or end of GenX?
I’m at the exact geographic center of Gen X, born in 1972.
Come to Portland OR, please.
Holy cow. First comment.
Heeeeyyyyy, congrats!
Do screening in Northern California please! Luther Burbank Center for the Arts hosted John Cusack for something similar that I attended and it was great. Hope to see you guys next year.
Just got tickets my my husband and I for Red Bank. Can’t wait!
Totally up for this – and I’d drive up to attend in Chicago, Indy or St Louis if need be.
(But for the record, “It would play in Peoria” and I could get you hooked up with the Giant Screen Theater at the Peoria Riverfront Museum, featuring one of the largest screens in the United States. It’s home to the Art of Film series with noted historian Marc Eliot, and boasts it’s own Film Society, unique among museums in the U.S. Just sayin’….)
A heartfelt congratulations! As someone approaching 50, I feel this, and if I was able bodied enough to travel, I would fight for one of those tickets. Your story has been an inspiration to me. As I struggle through physical disability, I am constantly reminded of what you overcame as a child with far less support than I have and it motivates me, not only to keep going but to help others along the way.
So, congratulations, and thank you for your positive influence for so many years. It matters!
Any chance you would do this in Canada? Say….Ottawa?
It’d be a whole lot cooler if you streamed these as well…<3
I’d pay to watch, for sure.
I would love that!
Definitely would pay, or make a donation to a worthy cause, for the privilege of watching along online.
Congrats on a legacy milestone for all of you and this film. I hope the first two screenings go well and that there are more opportunities to share this in the coming year. If you make it close to Chicago, I’ll definitely be there!
Any chance you’d come to Canada…say Ottawa?
I would love that. The producers have experience doing special events like this, and they know how to assess if it makes sense to go to one place or another, so it’ll be their call.
This is fantastic! What a great idea. And what a great reason to connect with people you worked and bonded with all those years ago. ((40 years?!? Not possible.))
Gah….sorry about the double post! It was not intentional!
I hope you’ll come up to Canada (specifically Toronto) for a few screenings! You could visit the SNW cast…
A friend of mines buddy from the University of Oregon the the dead body. Which is fun to know as I played a dead guy in a high school play once.
Kent! He was Corey’s stand-in and photo double first, but he looked so much like the head that Mike Westmore made, they put him in the movie.
I remember him as a kind person.
I can’t tell you how much I would love to attend a screening and give you all a standing ovation. Yes, you were all young and couldn’t know what this movie would mean to so many. But that didn’t stop you from giving it your all and helping create something so special. So I’ll say here what I would so wish to tell you in person. Thank you for making this movie. Thank you for creating characters with the depth and heart that came from deep inside yourselves. Thank you for giving us all memories of this story and these characters and bringing them all to life. Thank you for bringing back memories of my own magical time and wonderful friends at that age. Just…. Thank You.
This sounds like a fantastic event. If a screening makes its way to Salt Lake, I’ll do my best to make the time to go.
It would be cool, but I can’t afford to fly from western Canada to there for it. Congrats though! =)
Please come to the DC/Baltimore megalopolis
Fingers crossed that you will be able to book a few more venues on the west coast. What a great way to celebrate the 40th anniversary!
Outstanding!!! I’d love to attend one if it comes near. Or I hope you’ll find a way to stream a session for those of us who aren’t close by.
Will there be a way to catch that outside the US? Us ageing folk here in Europe hold Stand By Me close to our hearts, too. 🥺
I didn’t see the film until many years after it was released and I was familiar with your writing. When I did see it, I really wanted you to re-film the last scene so you could be The Writer (nothing against Dreyfuss, just ya know, you – The Writer!)
Congrats. This looks like it’ll be great. Throwing in my vote for Detroit – or better yet, an hour north of Detroit, where I live.
I’m hoping this can be done in Canada (particularly Calgary) some day… Or the whole event will be available to watch streaming somewhere at the very least. I’ve been a fan of it since it came out.
I could not get tickets fast enough! So excited for this. There weren’t many tickets left the last I peeked for the NH show so hopefully that means good news for more future screenings.
This is what it looks like when I drop a Discord invite in my comments. This will expire 24 hours after it is posted.
All kind people are welcome to come join our little Old Internet community. Feel free to share this with other kind people you know and trust.
https://discord.gg/eMCjtjmV
Would really like this! Maybe Kiefer Sutherland can record a “guest commentary” clip or something too?
I hope the initial screenings go well!
I saw your IG post about this and was initially really excited, since it’s not too far north of where I live. Then I realized I’d have to get someone to go with me since I don’t drive + accessibility concerns (I’m disabled)…and finding someone to go with is difficult.
BUMP for PNW!
Hi, any chance you could do a screening in Toronto, Canada? I know it would be a sell out for sure. It’s hard to believe its 40 years ago, I was 15 and enjoyed going on walking adventures whenever I could.
Please schedule a screening at the beautiful Pantages Theater in Tacoma, WA. We saw The Princess Bride and met Cary Elwes on the film’s 35th anniversary. Certain films loom large in my life: Stand By Me is one as well.
Any streaming options? Even if there were a local theater, I couldn’t attend.
Two votes for streaming it.
I loved this movie! It was so impactful. RIP River Phoenix
Dear, dear, Wil.
I sadly would not be able to make these showings, but WILL look for future ones.
Would love to ask, however. would the 3 of you think about doing a “commentary” edition
(maybe the rights wouldbe hell…) but some recollection, a commentary, maybe a recorded Q&A after the movie…
Else, honestly? the 3 of you, in a room just chatting would be something i’m sure many would love to see!
When I saw it in the theater in Eugene, OR, we went because it has been filmed nearby.
Don’t let this go to your 53? Year old held, but the preteen girls behind us kept whispering “he’s so cute” when you were on screen. They may have like River too, but your closeups had them riveted.
Crossing fingers for a showing near me in Chicagoland. Spouse and I went to your Wootfest show at Park West, so willing to get boots and parkas on.
Please come to Tulsa.
40 years later and me and my childhood buddies are still quoting this movie.
I will indeed need to “absorb and deal” with the film turning 40, despite not having been 12 at the time but just graduated from freaking college. The tagline is correct. “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve” (those at college came close)
But New Hampshire or New Jersey …. I would LOVE to attend but His Orange Highness would object, me being from Venezuela and all (but not a gang member, rapist or drug dealer).
River will be there with you all in spirit <3
I just rewatched Stand By Me at your prompt and I’d forgotten just HOW FUCKING GOOD ALL of you were. Jesus, man. You and River were really amazing. I’d totally forgotten that Jerry was the chubby kid! I’m sorry you were not in a place to really appreciate what you’d done, but I’m here to tell you that IT WAS SPECIAL. What you kids created together was truly a magical thing. And I’ll tell you something else: your EYES, my dude. YOUR EYES. So emotive. And something else: you are still as cute as you were at 12. 🙂 I’ve read your blog since the beginning and I hope to one day meet you again at Dragoncon – or some other con. I’ve got a coupla books for you to sign. Thanks for all of it, Wil. <3
Wil, Stand By Me was when it first came out and remains one of my top 5 movies of all time. Every frame is perfect, and all your performances were amazing, but especially yours touched my heart. I got excited every time you guested on Big Bang because it was wonderful to see that you turned out so well (and funny)! I hope you all do a country-wide tour and that part of it is in Southern California. I will be there in a heartbeat, it you do.
Please come to Australia and do a screening, we would love to be able to share this chance of a lifetime.
Please come and do a screening in Australia, we would love to be able to share in this special experience.
I’d be there if I lived in the US – but it would be an expensive night out from Australia. And who knows if I’d even be allowed to enter your country. But I’m with you in spirit.
When I saw it in the theater in Eugene, OR, we went because it has been filmed nearby.
Don’t let this go to your 53? Year old held, but the preteen girls behind us kept whispering “he’s so cute” when you were on screen. They may have like River too, but your closeups had them riveted.
Crossing fingers for a showing near me in Chicagoland. Spouse and I went to your Wootfest show at Park West, so willing to get boots and parkas on.
Hey Wil, just wanted to mention something that will endear you to the people of New Hampshire…
It’s pronounced KONG-kerd (conquered).
Already have our tickets for Concord. Thanks for doing this—it’ll be a special night for my family.