On this day in 1986 (June 11th), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off hit theaters and was quick to become a beloved classic.
Directed by John Hughes, who is also responsible for multiple other blockbuster hits (National Lampoon’s Vacation, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink), the film debuted at No. 2 and became the 10th highest grossing movie in 1986. In 2014, it was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,” thus was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Paramount Pictures’ film follows high school senior Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick), who skips school and spends the day in downtown Chicago along with his girlfriend Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara) and best friend Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck). He creatively avoids his school’s dean of students Edward Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), his resentful sister Jeannie (Jennifer Grey) and his parents.
In honor of the anniversary, here are some movie facts provided by IMDB.
- John Hughes wrote the script in six days.
- The first edit of the film had a running time of 2 hours and 45 minutes.
- Mia Sara (Sloane) was the only member of the principal trio that was a teenager when the movie was made. She was 18, while Matthew Broderick (Ferris) was 23 and Alan Ruck (Cameron) was 29.
- John Hughes told Ben Stein, who had a degree in Economics, to present an actual Economics lecture in his scenes. Hence nothing Stein says (aside from the roll call) is scripted.
- All of the conversations between Mr. Rooney and Ferris are one-sided. Only one of them speaks throughout the conversation while the other is silent.
- Paul Gleason (who played Assistant Principal Richard Vernon in The Breakfast Club) was considered for the role of Ed Rooney.
- The insignia on Ferris’ beret is the U.S. Army’s 32nd Armored Regiment, Elvis Presley’s unit when he was in the Army.
- While the film was released in 1986, the film takes place June 5th, 1985.
- The parade sequence was filmed during the Von Steuben Day Parade, which is usually held on a weekend in mid-September.
Watch the original trailer of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off below:
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller
