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  "path": "/back-to-school-1986-box-office-hit",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-25T04:45:02.000Z",
  "site": "https://nofilmschool.com",
  "tags": [
    "Robert downey jr",
    "Back to school",
    "Robert Downey Jr.",
    "John Hughes",
    "Caddyshack",
    "Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H",
    "Rocky",
    "Roger Ebert",
    "Top Gun",
    "Box Office Mojo",
    "Aliens",
    "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home",
    "Ferris Bueller's Day Off",
    "Stand by Me",
    "C. Brian Smith",
    "Iron Man",
    "Zodiac",
    "Tropic Thunder",
    "Oppenheimer"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\n\nOscar winner Robert Downey Jr., who was the highest-paid actor of the year for three years running starting in 2013, has earned more than $14 billion worldwide with his collected filmography. But we all have to start somewhere.\n\n40 years ago this month, __Back to School__ debuted on June 13, 1986, becoming the star’s first-ever movie to open at No. 1.\n\n## Robert Downey Jr. Before 1986\n\nBy the mid-1980s, Robert Downey Jr. was already a rising star. He had kicked off his career as a child actor in the 1970 movie __Pound__ , which was directed by his father, Robert Downey Sr. Don’t go throwing around nepo baby allegations just yet, because it sure wasn’t his dad’s underground cult movies that launched him to stardom. Those uncredited follow-up roles in the Downey Sr. movies __Greaser’s Palace__ and __Up the Academy__ didn’t open doors in Hollywood, for some reason.\n\nHollywood didn’t genuinely start trying to figure Downey Jr. out until 1983, when he was given a small role in John Sayles’ __Baby It’s You__ , which led to increasingly important roles opposite Christopher Collett (in 1984’s __Firstborn__) and James Spader (in 1985’s __Tuff Turf__). His first real breakthrough came when he played Ian, one of the two jock bullies, in the 1985 John Hughes teen movie __Weird Science__ , which followed __Sixteen Candles__ and __The Breakfast Club__ and starred Brat Pack member Anthony Michael Hall.\n\nWhile the movie was a modest success, it debuted at No. 4 and sank down from there over the ensuing weeks. It wasn’t until the following year that he would star in his first major hit, even though it didn’t necessarily seem like an auspicious role at the time.\n\n## Enter __Back to School__\n\nRobert Downey Jr. had just starred in a John Hughes movie, for crying out loud. Him taking on a role in 1986’s __Back to School__ probably felt like a return to the middling teen pictures he’d already done before his brush with the Brat Pack. And the director was no John Hughes. Alan Metter, who previously helmed the underperforming teen comedy __Girls Just Want to Have Fun__ (in which Downey Jr. had a minor, uncredited role), had zero hits under his belt at that point.\n\nSure, it starred Rodney Dangerfield, whose movie Caddyshack was a solid hit back in 1980. But the comedian’s __Caddyshack__ follow-up, 1983’s __Easy Money__ , entirely failed to set the world on fire. Who was to say that __Back to School__ , in which he played a man who signs up for college while in his sixties in order to encourage his indolent son (Keith Gordon of __Christine__) to take his studies more seriously, would fare any better?\n\n‘Back to School’ (1986)Credit: Orion Pictures\n\nNo, this felt like another anonymous supporting gig for Downey Jr. Even though he played a relatively important character - Derek Lutz, the roommate of Keith Gordon’s Jason - the burgeoning star was fifth billed behind Dangerfield, Gordon, Sally Kellerman (Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H), and Burt Young (Rocky).\n\nAnd yet, __Back to School__ blew up. Critics responded positively to the comedy (including Roger Ebert, who gave it three stars), and it ultimately debuted at No. 1 at the domestic box office, staying in the Top 5 for six consecutive weekends. By the end of the month, it had already grossed $33.6 million, making it the second-highest-grossing movie of June 1986 (behind the original Top Gun). All told, it grossed $91.2 million, which made it the fourth highest-grossing domestic release of the year overall (behind __Top Gun__ , __Crocodile Dundee__ , and __The Karate Kid Part II__ , per Box Office Mojo). Rodney Dangerfield even got a __People__ magazine cover out of the bargain, appearing alongside __Ruthless People__ ’s Danny DeVito.\n\nWe cannot emphasize enough what a big deal this movie’s box office take was. We’re talking about a box office haul that outgrossed the domestic total of James Cameron’s Aliens ($85.2 million). Ditto Steven Spielberg’s __The Color Purple__ __($84 million). And Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home__($72.7 million). Ferris Bueller's Day Off__($70.1 million). Stand by Me__($52.3 million). __Pretty in Pink__($40.5 million). __Back to School__ was a __hit__.\n\n## Robert Downey Jr.’s Slow But Steady Rise\n\nWhy was __Back to School__ such a hit? There isn’t a single concrete answer to that question, though Dangerfield’s frequent collaborator Harry Basil suggested that it was the fact that it galvanized both younger and older audiences. During a Q&A after a staged reading of the screenplay at L.A. City College in 2017 (per C. Brian Smith), Basil told the audience that “young people loved __Back to School__ because it had this rich old man spouting off funny one-liners, but it had a young cast as well.”\n\nThat appealing young cast included Robert Downey Jr., who suddenly found himself front and (slightly left of) center in a major blockbuster. While it would still be years before he played the lead in a major hit, __Back to School__ lit a fire under him that eventually led to him starring in the 1992 biopic __Chaplin__ , which earned him his first of three Oscar nominations (his second nomination was for __Tropic Thunder__ and his third nomination - and first win - was for __Oppenheimer__).\n\n‘Chaplin’ (1992)Credit: TriStar Pictures\n\nWhile his career was derailed for some years as he recovered from his drug addiction, the groundwork for the titanic success of 2008’s Iron Man (and thus the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, which was spawned by the success of that particular comic book adaptation) was laid more than 20 years earlier, thanks to the runaway success of __Back to School__. The fact that the 1986 hit led to him becoming a big enough commodity in Hollywood to earn that Oscar nomination ultimately gave him a major selling point that helped him overcome his reputation to earn major roles in his mid-2000s comeback movies like __Gothika__ and __Kiss Kiss Bang Bang__.\n\nInterested in learning more about Robert Downey Jr.’s extended filmography? Check out __No Film School__ ’s articles on other titles featuring the Oscar-winning star, including David Fincher’s serial killer thriller Zodiac, the envelope-pushing action movie satire Tropic Thunder, the epic MCU crossover __Avengers: Endgame__ , and Christopher Nolan’s Best Picture winner Oppenheimer.",
  "title": "This Early Robert Downey Jr. Movie Was One of America’s Biggest Hits 40 Years Ago"
}