THE SAX MAN
SPEAKS
you never saw so many happy executives in
your whole life. And from then on there was
this sort of drumbeat aboutLost Boys.”
The film did well enough, making $32
million from an $8.5 million budget, but became
a huge success on video. Warner Bros. and
Donner wanted a sequel, and Schumacher
suggested a prequel, introducing the Lost Boys in
a story set around the 1906 earthquake — “I said
you could have horses, it could be quite exciting ”
— or a female version, ‘The Lost Girls’, starring,
he suggested, “Drew Barrymore and Rosanna
Arquette on motorcycles. I wanna see that
movie!” Plans fadedaway,though; two Feldman-
starring sequels were made years later, but wereless inspired, straight-to-DVD situations. Yet the
drumbeat continues. Joss Whedon has cited the
film as influencingBuffy The Vampire Slayer; the
lust-soakedTwilightfilms owe a debt; and many
of today’s filmmakers speak highly of it. Recently,
Jordan Peele referenced it at the start ofUs,
in the 1986-set prologue on the Santa Cruz
boardwalk, in which Adelaide’s mother says,
“They’re shooting a movie over there by the
carousel.” Schumacher grinned as he watched it.
“He gives us the nod!” he says. “A subtle little
shout-out, but I loved it!” Meanwhile, US
network The CW is currently developing a pilot
for a newLost Boysseries.
James Jeremias is “really happy” with what
his original script spawned. He wrote more
screenplays, but none made it into production,
and he went back to being a grip before retiring.
“They made a really good film,” he says of
The Lost Boys. “It worked out!” Looking back,
Schumacher remembers it all with enormous
affection. “There was nothing but the future
ahead of all of us, whether the movie succeeded
or not,” he says. “One day the two Coreys came to
me and said, ‘Is this movie gonna be a hit, Joel?’
I said, ‘No-one knows if the movie’s gonna be a
hit, guys. So we have to enjoy the heck out of it
now. We’re a family, and we get to make a movie
on Warner Bros.’ money, and we’re gonna enjoy
the heck out of it. And whatever happens is not
up to us, it’s up to the gods. So let’s party on.’”
And they did. The film’s tagline — “Sleep all
day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die”
— is as fitting as it gets, reflecting everything that
went on, and immortalising its cast. Never die.Clockwise from top right:Billy Wirth and Brooke McCarter
in the Santa Cruz Holiday Inn; The Frog brothers and Sam
flank alarmed mom Lucy (Dianne Wiest); Comic shops are
where all the cool kids hang out; Patric and Sutherland.Alamy, Paul Davis, Shutterstock, Warner Bros.
TIM CAPPELLO, THE LOST BOYS’
GYRATING SAXOPHONIST, IS STILL
GOING STRONG...Joel Schumacher saw you performing
in Tina Turner’s One Of The Living music
video. What was required of you
for The Lost Boys?
That was just what I did with Tina every night.
I just designed the outfi t a little more hippie
outrageous. I was always trying to fi nd stuff
that just didn’t quite work. That’s why
I tie-dyed the pants pink and purple. I always
felt like, if it doesn’t have a little bit of wrong
in it, it’s not what I want. They wanted me
to look super-ripped, which is not really
my thing — I’m fi ne being half-ripped.
They spray-painted me.Did Schumacher give you any direction?
He gave me zero direction. I have one way
that I’m comfortable moving while I’m
playing. I just did my thing.There’s a story about Schumacher being
asked to come and speak to you
because you had a problem.
The problem was...I was wearing this
cock-ring to give me some kind of package
in there. And it just made it hurt so much.
And I said to Joel, “If you can excuse me for
fi ve minutes I need to go and take this thing
off.” I just ducked behind the stage and took
the damn thing off. It still hurt.Are you touring soon?
I’m touring down in the southern [United]
States. I’m just totally hooked on doing this.
I’m nearly 65 and I just can’t believe that
people actually care. I must have run into
100 people that have tattoos of me.
I worked on The Lost Boys for two hours,
and it’s all about that. You try to bring
everything you have to something.
I feel like the luckiest guy.