Molly Ringwald has reacted to Peacock's in-development reimagining of the 1984 John Hughes movie, a member of the so-called Brat Pack in the classic '80s teen films, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and, of course, Sixteen Candles itself. Her breakout role now looks set to be revived in the form of a new series called Fifteen Candles.
The original Sixteen Candles movie follows Ringwald's character Samantha on her 16th birthday, which threatens to be ruined by the rest of her family forgetting about the big occasion. At the same time, Samantha is trying to navigate her crush on Jake, a senior, as a series of obstacles keep arising between them. While Fifteen Candles is still in the early stages of development, it's confirmed to be a half-hour comedy series following the coming-of-age journeys of four young Latinas as they start high school, primarily framed through the lens of their quinceañeras.
In comments reported by Deadline, Ringwald expressed her delight at the news of the reimagining of the film that gave her her breakout role. She noted her particular approval of the fact that the series will not be a remake of Sixteen Candles, but rather a new story inspired by the original. Read what Ringwald said below:
“I am so happy about that. I really do feel like when people always ask me about rebooting my movies, I am like, ‘No those movies were wonderful,’ but what they should do is take inspiration from them and do something completely different but inspired, so that just sounds fantastic.”
The series will be co-produced and developed by Selena Gomez, Gabriela Revilla Lugo, and Tanya Saracho. All three are Latina, and Saracho is the co-founder of the Untitled Latinx Project, whose stated mission is to increase on-screen Latine representation - Fifteen Candles certainly seems to come under that remit, putting Latina heroines for the first time at the forefront of a story based on a film that was largely white. Hughes' movies are often vaunted as the quintessential depictions of teen life in the '80s, but only with Fifteen Candles will Latina viewers be able to see themselves in that candy-colored world.
Ringwald's comments will be welcome news for Gomez, Saracho and Revilla Lugo. Remakes of classic films and TV shows have become the subject of increasing criticism over recent years, often from their original stars, mainly criticizing the industry's tendency to needlessly remake films and series for no reason. Fifteen Candles, however, promises to be a fresh take on the original's birthday party premise, taking inspiration from the film rather than directly remaking it. There is another aspect to this distance from the John Hughes original - Sixteen Candles have come in for criticism, including from Ringwald herself, since the film's release. These include its racist portrayal of generically Asian exchange student Long Duk Dong as well as the implications of date rape. Fifteen Candles will be an opportunity both to move away from the more poorly aged elements of the original Sixteen Candles and to put new stories in the spotlight.
Source: Deadline