THE FUTURE WAS NOW; MADMEN, MAVERICKS, AND THE EPIC SCI-FI SUMMER OF 1

Hollywood boldly went where it hadnt gone before and Nashawaty chronicles the journeys.Los Angeles Times(“Books You Need To Read This Summer”)

Written with a fans enthusiasm . . . An important inflection point in Hollywood filmmaking.New York Times(“Nonfiction Books to Read This Summer”)

In the summer of 1982, eight science fiction films were released within six weeks of one another.E.T., Tron, Star Trek: Wrath of Khan, Conan the Barbarian, Blade Runner, Poltergeist, The Thing, andMad Max: The Road Warrior changed the careers of some of Hollywood’s now biggest namesaltering the art of movie-making to this day.

InThe Future Was Now, Chris Nashawaty recounts the riotous genesis of these films, featuring an all-star cast of Hollywood luminaries and gadflies alike: Steven Spielberg, at the height of his powers, conceivesE.T.as an unlikely family tale, and quietly takes over the troubled production ofPoltergeist, a horror film he had been nurturing for years. Ridley Scott, fresh off the success ofAlien, tries his hand at an odd Philip K. Dick story that becomesBlade Runnera box office failure turned cult classic. Similar stories arise for films likeTron, Conan the Barbarian,andThe Thing.Taken as a whole, these films show a precarious turning-point in Hollywood history, when baffled film executives finally began to understand the potential of high-concept films with a rabid fanbase, merchandising potential, and endless possible sequels.

Expertly researched, energetically told, and written with an unabashed love for the cinema,The Future Was Nowis a chronicle of how the revolution sparked in a galaxy far, far away finally took root and changed Hollywood forever.

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