Just For Fun: Re-Making “The Breakfast Club”

It’s hard not to love the idea behind “The Breakfast Club,” and that got us thinking: how fun would a re-make be? Of course, much of what made “The Breakfast Club” fun was its originality, its teen movie charm, and of course, the actors and actresses involved. Certainly, a re-make would be a massive adjustment, and there are plenty of fans of the original who might not like the idea. But just for fun, here are a few ideas for each main student character.

Andrew Clark
Played, of course, by Emilio Estevez in the original, Andrew is the “athlete” of the group whose main problem in the Breakfast Club discussion is a poor relationship with his father. This character could easily be updated, as by now we’ve seen father/son relationship issues in far too many movies. Perhaps something a bit more “modern,” like an online gambling issue, could plague Andrew. He could spill to the others about a tendency to play games online at the Betfair Exchange for hours on end, gambling real money in the security of his own home. It’s just one idea of a fun modern activity that could represent a teen addiction. Casting: Dave Franco. It’s bold, but an oddly fitting choice.

Brian Johnson
Johnson, the “brain,” is a more morose character, and memorable as “the one who’s thought about suicide.” This is a bit too heavy of a topic to mess with, and the high school misfit driven to dark thoughts is a timeless character type. Casting: Ezra Miller. It’s type-casting at this point, but he’s an excellent brooder.

John Bender
The “criminal” who lives in an abusive household and incidentally has access to weed while at school could perhaps use a new spin in a hypothetical re-make. Perhaps he could be a young man (still with drugs) caught up in sketchy entrepreneurship. These days, kids can access plenty of get-rich-quick schemes. Whether it’s flipping iPhones, pirating movies, etc., he could have plenty of modernized ways to get in trouble. Casting: Dane DeHaan. He’s getting big, and seems ideally suited to a troubled teen role.

Allison Reynolds
The “basket case” who has a problem with telling the truth is perhaps the most generic and least interesting of the original characters. Perhaps she could be updated as the darker teen girl working at a bar despite being underage, or struggling in a relationship with an older guy. Casting: AnnaSophia Robb. We’d just like to see Robb take on some bigger roles after her excellent work in “The Way Way Back.”

Claire Standish
The virgin, and more specifically the “princess,” is another character it’s tough to mess with too much. Particularly after having been played by Molly Ringwald, this character is iconic, and could use a straight update. Casting: Emma Watson. It’s hard not to see her knocking it out of the park.