Posted in: Movies, Universal | Tagged: Casper

Casper Returns To Theaters This October For Its 30th Anniversary

Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment are bringing Casper (1995) back to theaters from October 3rd to October 31st to celebrate its 30th anniversary.

The re-release market continues to be a thriving business model even if some of them turn out cursed. I see what you did to the Wizard of Oz in Vegas, and it's the ugliest thing that has been done to classic cinema in a very long time. The theatrical releases of classics seem to be keeping things more or less the same. The one-day-only engagements of Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns are tweaking things so the movies can run with Dolby visuals and sound, but nothing so egregious as adding a bunch of weird AI. Universal and Amblin are also jumping on the rerelease train, but they are going for longer than one night. In a press release sent out today, it was announced that Casper will be returning to theaters starting October 3rd and running to October 31st to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the movie. Advanced tickets are on sale now.

Casper was released on May 28, 1995, and was based on the Harvey Comics character of the same name, who was created by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo in November 1945. The film had a budget of $55 million. Which, if you look up the inflation numbers, means in today's numbers, the movie had a budget of just over $116 million. That's pretty big for that era, and even today, that's not a number to sneeze at. The movie went on to make $288 million at the worldwide box office, and once again, checking the inflation numbers, means these days it would be just over $480 million.

Those are some pretty good numbers, though the critical response wasn't exactly glowing at the time, but Casper found its intended audience of young children. It got an animated series in 1996, The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, which ran for four seasons and 52 episodes total. In 2006, a television movie called Casper's Scare School, which went on to have its own animated spin-off from 2009 to 2012, had two seasons and 52 episodes. There were also two direct-to-video prequel films, Casper: A Spirited Beginning in 1997 and its sequel Casper Meets Wendy in 1998, but a true sequel to the film never came together.

Casper: Summary and Cast List

Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Brad Silberling (A Series of Unfortunate Events, City of Angels), the film stars Bill Pullman (Independence Day and Equalizer franchises) as Dr. Harvey, a ghost therapist, and two-time Emmy nominee Christina Ricci (Yellowjackets, The Addams Family films) as his daughter, Kat.

When they move into a drafty old mansion so that Dr. Harvey can exorcise the home's otherworldly inhabitants, they meet a friendly but lonely young ghost named Casper (voiced by Malachi Pearson), who's just looking for a friend, and his outrageous uncles Stretch (Joe Nipote), Stinkie (Joe Alasky) and Fatso (two-time Emmy winner Brad Garrett; Everybody Loves Raymond, Finding Nemo).

The film stars a powerhouse comedic cast including Garrett, Academy Award ® nominee Cathy Moriarty (Raging Bull), Monty Python icon Eric Idle and Ben Stein (Ferris Bueller's Day Off), as well as appearances from vintage TV comedy characters including Saturday Night Live's Father Guido Sarducci (Don Novello) and The Crypt Keeper (voiced by John Kassir).

The film also features uncredited cameo appearances from screen legends Rodney Dangerfield, Mel Gibson, Dan Aykroyd, and Clint Eastwood.

Casper's dazzling score was created by two-time Academy Award® winner James Horner, the composer of Titanic, Field of Dreams, and Avatar.

Casper was produced by blockbuster filmmaker Colin Wilson, producer of The Meg, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Troy, Amistad and Munich, and was written by Daytime Emmy winner Sherri Stoner (Tiny Toon Adventures) and Daytime Emmy nominee Deanna Oliver (Animaniacs), based on characters created by Joseph Oriolo.

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