When Hollywood dubbed actors like Andrew McCarthy, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Demi Moore, and Rob Lowe as members of The Brat Pack, the label triggered an unwanted chain reaction throughout the group. The name came with a specific air, and several Brat Pack members saw the brand as a curse. In Andrew McCarthy’s Brats trailer, the teen comedy icon turned filmmaker explores the ramifications of becoming the poster child for Hollywood’s disaffected youth during the 1980s.
In partnership with NEON and Network Entertainment, ABC News Studios will bring Brats to Hulu in the United States on June 13. A Disney+ premiere will occur in select territories later this summer, following its world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Festival.
According to the documentary’s official press release:
Brats “looks at the iconic films of the 1980s that shaped a generation and the narrative that took hold when their young stars were branded the “Brat Pack.” McCarthy reunites with his fellow Brat Packers — friends, colleagues and former foes, including Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, Jon Cryer, Lea Thompson and Timothy Hutton, many of whom he had not seen for over 30 years — to answer the question: What did it mean to be part of the Brat Pack? McCarthy also sits down for a first-time conversation with writer David Blum, who fatefully coined the term Brat Pack in a 1985 New York Magazine cover story.”
In the Brats trailer, Andrew McCarthy does the unthinkable by reaching out to his Brat Pack compatriots for an in-depth look at the blessing that later felt like a curse as members of the assembly tried to distance themselves from Hollywood’s tabloid clutches. On June 10, 1985, The New York Times posted an article titled “Hollywood’s Brat Pack.” Instantly, actors appearing in films like The Outsiders, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, St. Elmo’s Fire, Sixteen Candles, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and No Small Affair were defined by a nostalgic yet questionable time in Hollywood, with little room to escape.
Andrew McCarthy hopes to clear the air in his Brats documentary by having several Brat Pack members reconnect for the first time in years.
“The Brat Pack captivated a generation and defined cool for so many,” said Mike Kelley, who heads ABC News Studios. “Andrew, as a seminal member, brings unbelievable access and perspective to the phenomenon as director of this film. It’s a deeply personal, surprising and entertaining journey and a film we are so proud of at ABC News Studios.”
“Making Brats was that rare opportunity to dive back into the frozen past and bring it up into the living present,” said McCarthy.
Are you ready for a class reunion with the Brat Pack when Brats comes to Hulu and Disney+?