:The Breakfast Club#Soundtrack

On Saturday, March 24, 1984, five students at Shermer High School in Shermer, Illinois, report for an all-day detention: socially awkward Brian Johnson, jock Andrew Clark, shy loner Allison Reynolds, popular girl Claire Standish, and rebellious delinquent John Bender. They gather in the school library and meet with their Vice Principal Richard Vernon, who warns them not to talk or move from their seats and assigns each of them the task of writing a thousand-word essay describing "who you think you are."

Bender ignores the rules and spends his time antagonizing the others and defying Vernon, who gives him eight additional weekends of detention. The students sneak off to retrieve Bender's marijuana stash from his locker. When they see Vernon returning to the library, Bender deliberately gets caught to allow the others to sneak back in.

Locked in a storage closet as punishment, Bender is further berated by Vernon, who tells him that he wants Bender to prove how tough he is. Bender is offered a chance to punch Vernon but silently refuses. He soon escapes into the ceiling panels and falls into the library, where the others hide him from Vernon.

The students pass the time arguing, listening to music, and smoking marijuana, gradually opening up about their home lives and their reasons for being in detention:

• Claire's popularity subjects her to intense peer pressure, while her bickering parents use her against each other. She received detention for skipping school to go shopping.
• Bender reveals the physical abuse he and his mother suffer at the hands of his father, including cigar burns, as well as other injuries he has sustained from his father physically abusing him. He is serving detention for pulling a false fire alarm.
• Andrew became influenced by jock culture and is intimidated by his father to succeed in wrestling. He was given detention for taping a student's buttocks together in an attempt to win both his teammates' and his father's approval.
• Brian is under so much academic pressure from his parents to get good grades that he contemplated suicide after getting an F in shop class. He was sent to detention for bringing a flare gun to school.
• Allison is compulsively dishonest with neglectful parents, constantly stealing things to use should she ever run away from home. She admits that she showed up to detention for lack of anything better to do.

Despite their differences, the students realize they all face similar problems: Andrew and Allison bond over their complex relationships with their parents; Brian and Claire each feel anxiety over being a virgin. While the group suspects that their new friendships will end once detention is over, they do admit they will look at their peers differently from now on.

Meanwhile, Vernon complains to the janitor, Carl, that students have become less disciplined and more arrogant compared to the ones he had when he was a teacher, but Carl suggests that Vernon is the one who has changed and cares too much about what the students think of him.

The group convinces Brian to complete Vernon's essay on everyone's behalf. Claire gives Allison a makeover, which sparks romantic interest from Andrew, and Bender crawls back to the closet, where Claire challenges her "pristine" reputation by kissing him. As the students part ways, Allison and Andrew kiss, and she rips the state championship patch off his letterman jacket to keep; Claire gives Bender one of her diamond earrings, and they share their own kiss.

Vernon reads Brian's essay, which asserts that the vice principal has made petty assumptions about all of them and declares that "each one of us is a brain (Brian), an athlete (Andrew), a basket case (Allison), a princess (Claire), and a criminal (Bender)." "Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club." Bender walks home across the school's football field and raises his fist in the air triumphantly as he leaves.

{{div col}}

• Emilio Estevez as Andrew Clark, an "athlete" who is in Saturday detention for taping another student's butt cheeks together
• Paul Gleason as Richard Vernon, the domineering vice principal of Shermer High School who oversees the Saturday detention
• Anthony Michael Hall as Brian Johnson, a "brain" who is in Saturday detention for taking a flare gun to school
• John Kapelos as Carl Reed, a janitor at Shermer High School who is on friendly terms with Brian
• Judd Nelson as John Bender, a "criminal" who is in Saturday detention for setting off the fire alarm
• Molly Ringwald as Claire Standish, a "princess" who is in Saturday detention for skipping school
• Ally Sheedy as Allison Reynolds, a "basket case" who was not in Saturday detention but goes anyway
• Ron Dean as Mr. Clark, Andrew's father
• Mercedes Hall as Mrs. Johnson, Brian's mother
• Mary Christian as Brian's sister
• Tim Gamble as Mr. Standish, Claire's father
• Perry Crawford & Fran Gargano as (respectively) Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds, Allison's parents
• John Hughes as Mr. Johnson (uncredited cameo), Brian's father

{{div col end}}

The title was originally The Lunch Bunch, but a friend of John's from another school had a detention class called "The Breakfast Club", so he decided to go with that.{{cite web | url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-breakfast-club-anniversary_n_6647566 | title=15 Things You Didn't Know About 'The Breakfast Club' | date=February 12, 2015 }} Hughes wrote the script around the time when he was writing Sixteen Candles, but he wrote the Sixteen Candles script in mere days and it impressed the studio executives and they chose it to be his directorial debut.{{cite web | url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2010/03/john-hughes-201003 | title=David Kamp on John Hughes | website=Vanity Fair | date=February 10, 2010 }}

Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall both starred in Hughes's 1984 film Sixteen Candles. Towards the end of filming, Hughes asked them to be in The Breakfast Club. Hall became the first to be cast, agreeing to the role of Brian Johnson; his real-life mother and sister played his character's mother and sister in the film. Ringwald was originally approached to play the character of Allison Reynolds, but she was "really upset" because she wanted to play Claire Standish (then named "Cathy" in the first draft of the script), which saw the auditions of Robin Wright, Jodie Foster, Diane Lane and Laura Dern. She eventually convinced Hughes and the studio to give her the part. The role of Allison ultimately went to Ally Sheedy.{{cite web | url=https://decider.com/2015/02/13/the-breakfast-club-that-might-have-been/ | title='The Breakfast Club' That Might Have Been | Decider | date=February 13, 2015 }}

Emilio Estevez was originally cast in the role of John Bender, but when Hughes was unable to find someone to play Andrew Clark, Estevez was recast. Nicolas Cage was considered for the role of John Bender, which was the last role to be cast. Alan Ruck also auditioned for the role,{{cite web |date=July 3, 1986 |title=Ruck Just Put Himself into His 'Day Off' Role |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-07-03-8602170641-story.html |website=Chicago Tribune}} but the choice was narrowed down to John Cusack and Judd Nelson. Hughes originally cast Cusack, but decided to replace him with Nelson before shooting began, because Cusack did not look intimidating enough for the role. At one point, Hughes was disappointed in Nelson because he stayed in character and harassed Ringwald off-camera; the other actors had to convince Hughes to not fire him.{{cite news |last=Itzkoff |first=Dave |title=She Won't Forget About Him: Molly Ringwald Remembers John Hughes |work=The New York Times |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/she-wont-forget-about-him-molly-ringwald-remembers-john-hughes/ |date=September 17, 2010 |access-date=September 4, 2011 |archive-date=November 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126030544/https://archive.nytimes.com/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/she-wont-forget-about-him-molly-ringwald-remembers-john-hughes/ |url-status=live}} Rick Moranis was originally cast as the janitor but was released by Ned Tanen, the film’s producer, who felt that Moranis' portrayal as an over-the-top Russian caricature didn't suit the serious nature of the film. Moranis was replaced by John Kapelos.{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/03/the-breakfast-club-rick-moranis |title=How the Female Stars of The Breakfast Club Fought to Remove a Sexist Scene, and Won |date=March 12, 2015 |magazine=Vanity Fair}}{{cite book |last=Gora |first=Susannah |year=2010 |title=You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried |publisher=Three Rivers Press |isbn=9780307408433}}{{rp|56–57}}

In 1999, Hughes said that his request to direct the film met with resistance and skepticism because he lacked filmmaking experience.{{cite web|url=http://home.comcast.net/~aimsters4/bclub.html|title=Premiere, December 1999, Oral history "Breakfast Club"|publisher=comcast.net|access-date=March 14, 2011|archive-date=June 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629170732/http://home.comcast.net/~aimsters4/bclub.html|url-status=live}} He ultimately convinced the film's investors that due to the modest $1 million budget and its single-location shoot, he could greatly minimize their risk. Hughes originally thought that The Breakfast Club would be his directorial debut. He opted for an insular, largely one-room set and wrote about high school students, who would be played by younger actors.{{rp|47}}

Principal photography began on March 28, 1984, and ended in May. Filming took place at Maine North High School in Des Plaines, Illinois, which had been closed in May 1981. The same school was used for interior scenes of Hughes's 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which also featured exterior shots from nearby Glenbrook North High School. The appearance of the library at Maine North High, considered too small for use in the film, prompted the crew to build a virtually identical but larger set in the school's gymnasium.{{rp|58}} The actors rehearsed for three weeks and then shot the film in sequence.{{rp|59, 69}} Nelson tried other opinions for the ending scene until eventually landing the fist pump. The dance sequence was originally scripted with Claire dancing alone, but Ringwald felt embarrassed about performing solo and Hughes agreed to have the others join her.{{Cite magazine |last=Waxman |first=Olivia B. |date=2015-02-15 |title=Molly Ringwald Talks About the Most Embarrassing Part of Filming 'The Breakfast Club' |url=https://time.com/3709835/molly-ringwald-breakfast-club-30th-anniversary/ |access-date=2025-03-02 |magazine=Time |language=en}} On the Ferris Bueller's Day Off DVD commentary (featured on the 2004 DVD version), Hughes revealed that he shot the two films concurrently to save time and money, and some outtakes of both films feature elements of the film crews working on the other film. The first print was 150 minutes in length.{{cite web |last=Dameron |first=Emerson |title=John Hughes: The Director's Cut |url=http://newcityfilm.com/2009/08/11/john-hughes-the-directors-cut/ |url-status=live |publisher=Newcity Film |date=August 11, 2009 |access-date=March 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011050130/http://newcityfilm.com/2009/08/11/john-hughes-the-directors-cut/ |archive-date=October 11, 2011}}

During a cast reunion in honor of the film's 25th anniversary, Ally Sheedy revealed that a director's cut existed; but Hughes's widow, who was also present, did not disclose any details concerning its whereabouts.{{cite web |last=Steinberg |first=Julie |title='The Breakfast Club' Cast Reunites, But Where's Emilio? "Working on 'Mighty Ducks 5'" |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/09/21/the-breakfast-club-cast-reunites-but-wheres-emilio-working-on-mighty-ducks-5/ |url-status=live |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=September 21, 2010 |access-date=March 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817090725/http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/09/21/the-breakfast-club-cast-reunites-but-wheres-emilio-working-on-mighty-ducks-5/ |archive-date=August 17, 2011}} In 2015, the first draft of the film's script was discovered in a Maine South High School cabinet as district employees were moving offices to a new building.{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Jennifer |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/park-ridge/news/ct-prh-breakfast-club-script-tl-0423-20150420-story.html |title=Original 'Breakfast Club' screenplay found in District 207 cabinet during move |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=April 21, 2015 |access-date=January 20, 2017 |archive-date=February 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201235052/http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/park-ridge/news/ct-prh-breakfast-club-script-tl-0423-20150420-story.html |url-status=live}}

The film's poster, featuring the five characters huddled together, was photographed by Annie Leibovitz toward the end of shooting. The shot of five actors gazing at the camera influenced the way teen films were marketed from that point on.{{rp|79–80, 325–326}} The poster refers to the five "types" of the story, using slightly different terms than those used in the film (and in a different sequence), stating "They were five total strangers with nothing in common, meeting for the first time. A brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel and a recluse". The Breakfast Club poster "family shot", notably including Bender's raised fist, was satirized in the poster for the comedy-horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092076/trivia|title=The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)|work=IMDb|access-date=October 11, 2021|archive-date=October 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024151829/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092076/trivia|url-status=live}} It also inspired the title page of chapter 29 of the manga series Akane-banashi.{{cite web|url=https://www.viz.com/blog/posts/mangaka-musings-9-11-2022|title=Mangaka Musings 9/11/2022|website=Viz Media|date=September 11, 2022|access-date=September 17, 2022|archive-date=September 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920171453/https://www.viz.com/blog/posts/mangaka-musings-9-11-2022|url-status=live}}

The main theme of the film is the constant struggle of the American teenager to be understood, both by adults and by themselves. It explores the pressure put on teenagers to fit into their own realms of high school social constructs, as well as the lofty expectations of their parents, teachers, and other authority figures. On the surface, the students have little in common with each other, but they eventually bond over a common disdain for the aforementioned peer pressure and parental expectations.{{cite book |last=Loukides |first=Paul |year=1996 |title=Beyond the Stars 5: Themes and Ideologies in American Popular Film |publisher=Popular Press |isbn=9780879727017 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/beyondstars00louk/page/30 30–32] |url=https://archive.org/details/beyondstars00louk/page/30}}Barsanti, Chris (2010). [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZPW4VhjQ0iIC Filmology: A Movie-a-Day Guide to the Movies You Need to Know] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503083437/http://books.google.com/books?id=ZPW4VhjQ0iIC&printsec=frontcover |date=May 3, 2014}}. Adams Media. p. 49. Stereotyping is another theme. Once the obvious stereotypes are broken down, the characters "empathize with each other's struggles, dismiss some of the inaccuracies of their first impressions, and discover that they are more similar than different".{{cite web |url=http://www.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780195309928/instructorresources/filmstorage/breakfastclub/ |title=The Breakfast Club |publisher=Oup.com |access-date=September 9, 2013 |archive-date=October 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030044100/http://www.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780195309928/instructorresources/filmstorage/breakfastclub/ |url-status=live}} The main adult character, Mr. Vernon, is portrayed with arguably no redeeming qualities; throughout the film, he consistently talks down to students, accesses private student information (then attempts to cover his tracks when confronted by a fellow employee) and forcefully flaunts his authority at each opportunity. He continually and aggressively challenges Bender, who is the only one of the group who chooses to stand up to him.

The film premiered in Los Angeles on February 7, 1985. Universal Pictures released the film in cinemas on February 15, 1985, in the United States.{{cite web |title=The Breakfast Club (1985) - Financial Information |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Breakfast-Club-The#tab=summary |website=The Numbers}}

The Breakfast Club was first released on VHS{{cite book |title=Breakfast Club [VHS] |asin=630018403X}} and LaserDisc.{{cite web |title=The Breakfast Club (Laserdisc) 1985 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Club-Laserdisc-1985/dp/B0079126B4 |website=Amazon.com |access-date=March 10, 2020 |archive-date=April 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415044507/https://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Club-Laserdisc-1985/dp/B0079126B4 |url-status=live}} In 2003, the film was released on DVD as part of the "High School Reunion Collection".{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000A98ZP |title=The Breakfast Club (High School Reunion Collection): Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, John Kapelos, Paul Gleason, John Hughes, Ned Tanen: Movies & TV |website=Amazon |date=September 2, 2003 |access-date=July 30, 2014 |archive-date=April 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422040924/http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000A98ZP |url-status=live}} In 2008, a "Flashback Edition" DVD was released with several special features, including an audio commentary with Anthony Michael Hall and Judd Nelson.{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Club-Flashback-Emilio-Estevez/dp/B001AEF6BI/ |title=The Breakfast Club (Flashback Edition): Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Paul Gleason, Mercedes Hall, John Kapelos, Ron Dean, Perry Crawford, Fran Gargano, John Hughes, Tim Gamble, Jackie Burch, Thomas del Ruth: Movies & TV |website=Amazon |date=September 16, 2008 |access-date=July 30, 2014 |archive-date=March 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323104748/https://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Club-Flashback-Emilio-Estevez/dp/B001AEF6BI/ |url-status=live}} A 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray was released in 2010,{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003IWYOF4 |title=The Breakfast Club (25th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray]: Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, John Hughes: Movies & TV |website=Amazon |date=August 3, 2010 |access-date=July 30, 2014 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308140036/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003IWYOF4 |url-status=live}} and the same disc was re-released with a DVD and digital copy in 2012 as part of Universal's 100th Anniversary series.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003IWYOF4 |title=The Breakfast Club (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) : Universal's 100th Anniversary |website=Amazon |date=August 3, 2010 |access-date=March 26, 2013|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308140036/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003IWYOF4 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.universal100th.com/ |title=Celebrating 100 years of iconic movie moments |publisher=Universal 100th |access-date=July 30, 2014 |archive-date=August 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140828190421/http://www.universal100th.com/ |url-status=live}}

On March 10, 2015, the 30th Anniversary Edition was released. This release was digitally remastered and restored from the original 35mm film negatives for better picture quality on DVD, Digital HD and Blu-ray.{{cite web|url=http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=15732|title=The Breakfast Club 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray|publisher=Blu-ray.com|access-date=December 30, 2014|archive-date=December 31, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231074922/http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=15732|url-status=live}} The Criterion Collection released a special edition two-disc DVD set and a Blu-ray disc on January 2, 2018. The transfer was the same as the previous release but included new features such as fifty minutes of new, deleted and extended scenes, an Electronic Press Kit, new and archival interviews, a 1985 excerpt of the Today program, a new video essay and an episode of This American Life.{{cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/the-criterion-collection-the-breakfast-club-i-daniel-blake-1201887970/ |first=Michael |last=Nordine |title=The Criterion Collection Announces January 2018 Titles, Including 'The Breakfast Club' and 'I, Daniel Blake' |work=IndieWire |date=October 16, 2017 |access-date=March 24, 2020 |archive-date=March 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324140011/https://www.indiewire.com/2017/10/the-criterion-collection-the-breakfast-club-i-daniel-blake-1201887970/amp/ |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Breakfast-Club-Blu-ray/191181|title=The Breakd Club Blu-ray|website=Blu-ray.com|access-date=March 24, 2020|archive-date=March 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322012442/https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Breakfast-Club-Blu-ray/191181/|url-status=live}}

Roger Ebert awarded three stars out of four and called the performances "wonderful", adding that the film was "more or less predictable" but "doesn't need earthshaking revelations; it's about kids who grow willing to talk to one another, and it has a surprisingly good ear for the way they speak."{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-breakfast-club-1985 |title=The Breakfast Club movie review |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=February 15, 1985 |website=RogerEbert.com |access-date=December 28, 2019 |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212073926/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-breakfast-club-1985 |url-status=live}} Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, and wrote: "This confessional formula has worked in films as different as Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Big Chill, and My Dinner with Andre and it works here too. It works especially well in The Breakfast Club because we keep waiting for the film to break out of its claustrophobic set and give us a typical teenage movie sex-or-violence scene. That doesn't happen, much to our delight."Siskel, Gene (February 15, 1985). [https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-02-15-8501090715-story.html "Teenage life gets touching new portrayal"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215231911/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-02-15-8501090715-story.html |date=February 15, 2023}}. Chicago Tribune. Section 7, Page A. Kathleen Carroll from the New York Daily News stated, "Hughes has a wonderful knack for communicating the feelings of teenagers, as well as an obvious rapport with his exceptional cast–who deserve top grades."{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/breakfast-club-endearing-comedy-1985-review-article-1.2529922|title='The Breakfast Club' is an endearing teenage comedy: 1985 review|first=Cathleen|last=Carroll|work=New York Daily News|date=February 15, 1985|access-date=March 6, 2018|archive-date=March 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307151116/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/breakfast-club-endearing-comedy-1985-review-article-1.2529922|url-status=live}}

Other reviews were less positive. Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote, "There are some good young actors in The Breakfast Club, though a couple of them have been given unplayable roles", namely Ally Sheedy and Judd Nelson, adding, "The five young stars would have mixed well even without the fraudulent encounter-group candor towards which The Breakfast Club forces them. Mr. Hughes, having thought up the characters and simply flung them together, should have left well enough alone."{{Cite news |last=Maslin |first=Janet |author-link=Janet Maslin |date=February 15, 1985 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/15/movies/john-hughes-s-breakfast-club.html |title=Film: John Hughes's 'Breakfast Club' |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228074634/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/15/movies/john-hughes-s-breakfast-club.html |archive-date=December 28, 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times |page=C18 }} James Harwood of Variety panned the film as a movie that "will probably pass as deeply profound among today's teenage audience, meaning the youngsters in the film spend most of their time talking to each other instead of dancing, dropping their drawers and throwing food. This, on the other hand, should not suggest they have anything intelligent to say."Harwood, James (February 13, 1985). "Film Reviews: The Breakfast Club". Variety. 19.

Among retrospective reviews, James Berardinelli wrote in 1998: "Few will argue that The Breakfast Club is a great film, but it has a candor that is unexpected and refreshing in a sea of too-often generic teen-themed films. The material is a little talky (albeit not in a way that will cause anyone to confuse it with something by Éric Rohmer), but it's hard not to be drawn into the world of these characters."{{cite web |url=http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/breakfast-club-the |title=The Breakfast Club |last=Berardinelli |first=James |website=Reelviews |access-date=December 28, 2019 |archive-date=December 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229153955/http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/breakfast-club-the |url-status=live}}

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 111 reviews, with an average rating of 7.60/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "If The Breakfast Club{{'}}s gestures towards authenticity are occasionally undercut by trendy flourishes, its blistering emotional honesty and talented troupe of young actors catapult it to the top of the teen comedy class."{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/breakfast_club/ |title=The Breakfast Club (1985) |work=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=February 16, 2025 |archive-date=June 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604173528/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/breakfast_club |url-status=live}} Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on 25 reviews from mainstream critics, considered to be "generally favorable reviews".{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-breakfast-club |title=The Breakfast Club Reviews |work=Metacritic |access-date=March 6, 2018 |archive-date=May 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200514004243/https://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/breakfastclub?q=the%2Bbreakfast%2Bclub |url-status=live}}

Writing in 2015, P. J. O'Rourke called The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off "Hughes's masterwork[s]". He described the former film as an example of Hughes's politics, in that the students do not organize a protest, but "present themselves, like good conservatives do, as individuals and place the highest value, like this conservative does, on goofing off. Otherwise known as individual liberty."{{cite news |last=O'Rourke |first=P.J. |author-link=P. J. O'Rourke |title=Don't You Forget About Me: The John Hughes I Knew |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/22/how-john-hughes-made-conservatism-funny |url-status=live |website=The Daily Beast |date=March 22, 2015 |access-date=April 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503021001/https://www.thedailybeast.com/dont-you-forget-about-me-the-john-hughes-i-knew |archive-date=May 3, 2021}}

In February 1985, the film debuted at No. 3 at the box office (behind Beverly Hills Cop and Witness).{{cite web|title=Weekend Box Office: February 15-18, 1985—4-day President's Day Weekend|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?view=&yr=1985&wknd=07a&p=.htm|website=Box Office Mojo|access-date=September 3, 2011|archive-date=October 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023063337/http://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?view=&yr=1985&wknd=07a&p=.htm|url-status=live}} Grossing $45,875,171 domestically and $51,525,171 worldwide, the film was a box office success, given its $1 million budget.

{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2024}}

Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Paul Gleason and Ally Sheedy all won a Silver Bucket of Excellence Award at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards.

The Breakfast Club has been called the quintessential 1980s film.{{cite book|author=Dunkleberger, Amy|date=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AZNqWBiZwCEC|title=So You Want to Be a Film Or TV Screenwriter?|publisher=Enslow Publishers, Inc.|page=73|isbn=9780766026452|access-date=October 16, 2016|archive-date=May 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503020931/https://books.google.com/books?id=AZNqWBiZwCEC|url-status=live}} In 2008, Empire magazine ranked it at number 369 on their The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time list.{{Cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119034539/https://www.empireonline.com/500/25.asp | archive-date=2012-01-19 |title=Empire's The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.|work=Empire |url=https://www.empireonline.com/500/25.asp |url-status=dead |access-date=August 5, 2010 }} It later ranked at number 38 on their 2014 list.[https://web.archive.org/web/20140712110816/https://www.empireonline.com/301/list.asp?page=25 Empire's The 301 Greatest Movies of All Time.] Empire via Internet Archive. Retrieved July 12, 2014. Similarly, The New York Times placed the film on its Best 1000 Movies Ever list[https://web.archive.org/web/20080612032429/https://www.nytimes.com/ref/movies/1000best.html The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made.] The New York Times via Internet Archive. Published April 29, 2003. Retrieved June 12, 2008. and Entertainment Weekly ranked the film number 1 on its list of the 50 Best High School Movies.{{cite web |url=http://www.filmsite.org/50besthsfilms2.html |title=Entertainment Weekly's The 50 Best High School Movies |publisher=AMC's Filmsite.org |access-date=August 5, 2010 |archive-date=November 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112142042/http://www.filmsite.org/50besthsfilms2.html |url-status=live}} In the 2001 parody film Not Another Teen Movie, Gleason reprised his role as Assistant Principal Vernon in a short scene that parodies The Breakfast Club.{{cite news |author-link=A. O. Scott |first=A. O. |last=Scott |title=FILM REVIEW; Pretty in Prank: A Spoof of a Lampoon of a Satire of... |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/14/movies/film-review-pretty-in-prank-a-spoof-of-a-lampoon-of-a-satire-of.html |work=The New York Times |date=December 14, 2001 |access-date=March 28, 2012 |archive-date=May 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517205556/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/14/movies/film-review-pretty-in-prank-a-spoof-of-a-lampoon-of-a-satire-of.html |url-status=live}} To emphasize its eminent position within the canon of American coming-of-age films and its continued influence to this day, scholar Björn Sonnenberg-Schrank called The Breakfast Club "the Citizen Kane of the teen film genre".{{Cite book |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-31287-9 |title=Actor-Network Theory at the Movies |date=2020 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-31287-9 |last1=Sonnenberg-Schrank |first1=Björn |isbn=978-3-030-31286-2 }} Sebastian Stan described the superhero film Thunderbolts* (2025) as "The Breakfast Club of Marvel".{{cite web | url=https://variety.com/2025/film/awards/sebastian-stan-donald-trump-apprentice-thunderbolts-different-man-1236270956/ | title=Sebastian Stan on Why Playing Donald Trump Was the 'Hardest Thing' He's Ever Done and How 'Thunderbolts*' is Like Marvel's 'The Breakfast Club' | date=January 12, 2025 }}

In 2005, the film received the Silver Bucket of Excellence Award in honor of its 20th anniversary at the MTV Movie Awards. For the event, MTV attempted to reunite the original cast. Sheedy, Ringwald, and Hall appeared together on stage, with Kapelos in the audience; Gleason gave the award to his former castmates. Estevez could not attend because of other commitments, and Nelson appeared earlier in the show but left before the on-stage reunion, prompting Hall to joke that the two were "in Africa with Dave Chappelle". Yellowcard performed Simple Minds' anthem for the film, "Don't You (Forget About Me)", at the awards. At the 82nd Academy Awards (March 7, 2010), Sheedy, Hall, Ringwald, and Nelson all appeared in a tribute to John Hughes—who had died the prior year—along with other actors who had worked with him, including Jon Cryer from Pretty in Pink, Matthew Broderick from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Macaulay Culkin from Home Alone. In 2012, the Nickelodeon television series Victorious had their own spoof on the film, in the episode titled "The Breakfast Bunch".

In 2018, The New Yorker published an article written by Ringwald in which she critiqued Hughes's films "in the age of #MeToo", beginning with a discussion of how she explained to her ten-year-old daughter what happened in the scene when her character seems to be sexually assaulted under a desk.{{cite magazine | url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/what-about-the-breakfast-club-molly-ringwald-metoo-john-hughes-pretty-in-pink | first=Molly | last=Ringwald | author-link=Molly Ringwald | magazine=The New Yorker | date=April 6, 2018 | title=What About 'The Breakfast Club'? | access-date=March 26, 2019 | archive-date=March 27, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327090118/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/what-about-the-breakfast-club-molly-ringwald-metoo-john-hughes-pretty-in-pink | url-status=live}} The essay provoked some to claim that Ringwald was criticising the director who made her into a film star, but she was defended by Jenny Han for a "tender, fair-minded piece".{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/apr/07/molly-ringwald-revisiting-the-breakfast-club-was-troubling|last=Slawson|first=Nicola|title=Molly Ringwald says The Breakfast Club is troubling in #MeToo era|date=7 April 2018|access-date=18 December 2022|newspaper=The Guardian|location=UK|archive-date=December 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221218231925/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/apr/07/molly-ringwald-revisiting-the-breakfast-club-was-troubling|url-status=live}}

In April 2025, all five principal stars reunited in Chicago during a panel discussion, marking the first time the cast had been together in forty years.https://variety.com/2025/film/news/breakfast-club-actors-reunite-molly-ringwald-1236368517/https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/14/entertainment/breakfast-club-cast-reunion-intl-scli/index.htmlhttps://people.com/emilio-estevez-was-on-pain-pills-first-time-whole-breakfast-club-cast-met-11714753

{{Infobox album

| name = The Breakfast Club (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

| type = soundtrack

| artist = various artists

| cover =

| alt =

| released = February 19, 1985

| recorded = 1984

| genre = Rock, new wave

| length = 37:59

| label = A&M

| producer = various artists

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title =

| next_year =

| misc = {{Singles

| name = The Breakfast Club (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

| type = soundtrack

| single1 = Don't You (Forget About Me)

| single1date = February 1985 (US)

| single2 = Fire in the Twilight

| single2date = May 1985

}}

{{Audio sample

| type = soundtrack

| file = Simple Minds - Don't You Forget About Me.ogg

| description = "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds

}}

}}

The film's soundtrack, The Breakfast Club (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), was produced by British pop musician Keith Forsey and released on February 19, 1985, by A&M Records. The album peaked at No. 17 on the US Billboard 200 album chart. The song "Don't You (Forget About Me)", performed by Scottish rock band Simple Minds, was released as a single on February 23, 1985, in the United States and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/simple-minds/|title=Simple Minds - Biography, Music & News|magazine=Billboard}} It was released on April 8, 1985, in the United Kingdom.

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| extra_column = Performer

| title1 = Don't You (Forget About Me)

| writer1 = Keith Forsey, Steve Schiff

| extra1 = Simple Minds

| length1 = 4:20

| title2 = Waiting

| writer2 = K. Forsey, S. Schiff

| extra2 = Elizabeth Daily

| length2 = 4:37

| title3 = Fire in the Twilight

| writer3 = {{hlist|Jack Hues|K. Forsey|S. Schiff}}

| extra3 = Wang Chung

| length3 = 3:51

| title4 = I'm the Dude

| writer4 = K. Forsey, S. Schiff

| extra4 = Keith Forsey

| length4 = 2:10

| title5 = Heart Too Hot to Hold

| writer5 = {{hlist|Johnson|K. Forsey|Laurie Forsey|Michael Frondelli}}

| extra5 = Jesse Johnson & Stephanie Spruill

| length5 = 4:25

| all_writing =

| title6 =

| length6 =

| title7 =

| length7 =

| title8 =

| length8 =

| title9 =

| length9 =

| title10 =

| length10 =

| total_length = 19:23

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side two

| extra_column = Performer

| title1 = Dream Montage

| writer1 = Chang

| extra1 = Gary Chang

| length1 = 2:37

| title2 = We Are Not Alone

| writer2 = {{hlist|DeVito|Robbie Benson|Steve Goldstein}}

| extra2 = Karla DeVito

| length2 = 3:39

| title3 = The Reggae

| writer3 = Forsey

| extra3 = Keith Forsey

| length3 = 3:07

| title4 = Didn't I Tell You

| writer4 = {{hlist|K. Forsey|L. Forsey|S. Schiff}}

| extra4 = Joyce Kennedy

| length4 = 4:47

| title5 = Love Theme

| writer5 = Forsey

| extra5 = Keith Forsey

| length5 = 4:26

| all_writing =

| title6 =

| length6 =

| title7 =

| length7 =

| title8 =

| length8 =

| title9 =

| length9 =

| title10 =

| length10 =

| total_length = 18:36

}}

The album contains ten songs that are played partially throughout the movie, performed by bands and singers of the rock and new wave genre, including three instrumental songs by record producer Keith Forsey. Simple Minds's international hit "Don't You (Forget About Me)" is played in the opening and closing credits.{{Cite web|url=https://wdrv.com/episode/the-song-simple-minds-didnt-want-to-record-for-the-breakfast-club-soundtrack/|title=The song Simple Minds didn't want to record for The Breakfast Club soundtrack – 97.1fm The Drive – WDRV Chicago|date=January 26, 2022|website=97.1fm The Drive - WDRV Chicago}} A music video was made for this song and for Wang Chung's "Fire in the Twilight" (reached No 110 on the US Billboard Hot 100).{{Cite web |url=https://www.musicvf.com/Wang+Chung.art |title=Wang Chung Songs ••• Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts |access-date=April 24, 2020 |archive-date=July 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717171126/https://www.musicvf.com/Wang+Chung.art |url-status=live}} Not included on the soundtrack is the "Colonel Bogey March" that the students are whistling when Principal Vernon walks into the room.{{cite news|title=25 Of Cinema's Catchiest Earworms|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/catchiest-movie-earworms/|access-date=16 April 2022|work=Empire|archive-date=April 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220416095151/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/catchiest-movie-earworms/|url-status=live}}{{cite book |last1=Coyne |first1=Tom |title=A Course Called Scotland: Searching the Home of Golf for the Secret to Its Game |date=2019 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |page=246}}

In a June 25, 1985 review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a "D−" and said that it has "utterly negligible" songs, and he commended Simple Minds for trying to distance themselves from their song, "Don't You (Forget About Me)", best known for being played during the film's opening and closing credits.{{cite web |last=Christgau |first=Robert |date=June 25, 1985 |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv6-85.php |title=Christgau's Consumer Guide |work=The Village Voice |location=New York |access-date=December 16, 2016 |archive-date=September 14, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914130732/http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv6-85.php |url-status=live}} In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the soundtrack three out of five stars and wrote that, apart from Simple Minds' "undisputed masterpiece", the album is largely "disposable" and marred by "'80s artifacts" and "forgettable instrumentals".{{cite web |first=Stephen Thomas |last=Erlewine |title=The Breakfast Club [Original Soundtrack] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-breakfast-club-mw0000193096 |website=AllMusic |access-date=December 16, 2016 |archive-date=October 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008032134/https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-breakfast-club-mw0000193096 |url-status=live}}

Hughes had considered a sequel to the film, focusing on the teens reuniting years later while serving detention in university, now as the polar opposite of how they were in the first film. The film was never made prior to Hughes' death.{{Cite web |last=Busch |first=Jenna |date=2023-11-01 |title=Is The Breakfast Club 2 Happening, Or Is School Out Forever? |url=https://www.slashfilm.com/1434121/the-breakfast-club-2-is-it-happening/ |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=/Film |language=en-US}}

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite magazine|last1=Ringwald|first1=Molly|author-link1=Molly Ringwald|title=What About 'The Breakfast Club'?—Revisiting the movies of my youth in the age of #MeToo.|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/what-about-the-breakfast-club-molly-ringwald-metoo-john-hughes-pretty-in-pink|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=April 9, 2018|date=April 6, 2018|archive-date=April 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409022748/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/what-about-the-breakfast-club-molly-ringwald-metoo-john-hughes-pretty-in-pink|url-status=live}}

{{refend}}

{{wikiquote}}

• {{IMDb title}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes|2=The Breakfast Club}}
• {{AFI film}}
• {{TCMDb title}}
• [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/5243-the-breakfast-club-smells-like-teen-realness The Breakfast Club: Smells Like Teen Realness] – an essay by David Kamp at The Criterion Collection

{{John Hughes}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Portal bar|1980s|Film|United States|Comedy}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breakfast Club}}

Category:1985 films

Category:1985 comedy-drama films

Category:1980s American films

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Category:1980s high school films

Category:1980s teen comedy-drama films

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Category:American coming-of-age comedy-drama films

Category:American high school films

Category:American teen comedy-drama films

Category:Films about juvenile delinquency

Category:Films directed by John Hughes (filmmaker)

Category:Films produced by John Hughes (filmmaker)

Category:1985 independent films

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Category:Films set in Illinois

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Category:Films set in libraries

Category:Films shot in Illinois

Category:Films with screenplays by John Hughes (filmmaker)

Category:United States National Film Registry films

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Category:English-language comedy-drama films

Category:English-language independent films