'St. Elmo's Fire' to get series treatment on ABC

St. Elmo’s Fire — the iconic ’80s Brat Pack flick which starred Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, and Mare Winningham — may be coming to ABC as an hour-long dramedy series, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Supposedly, several networks showed strong interest in the potential potential project, but ABC won the bidding war and now has a deal to produce a pilot. Joel Schumacher, who directed the film, has signed on as a producer, along with Topher Grace, Dan Bucatinsky, and Jamie Tarses.

The film starred the above actors as friends who’d just graduated from Georgetown University and chronicled their adjustment to adulthood. Apparently, this new series will use that concept as a jumping off point and introduce six new friends, three guys and three gals. The Georgetown setting and St. Elmo’s Bar & Restaurant (to be renamed St. Elmo’s Bar & Grill) will remain. If the set-up sounds like Friends‘ Central-Perk-with-three-guys-and-three-girls premise, the producers are fine with that. “I feel it is time to re-create Friends in the hourlong genre and feel like this is the perfect opportunity,” Bucatinsky told the Hollywood Reporter.