Original Australian Daybill Poster The Outsiders
The Outsiders is a 1983 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, an adaptation of the 1967 novel of the same name by S. E. Hinton. The film was released on March 25, 1983. Jo Ellen Misakian, a librarian at Lone Star Elementary School in Fresno, California, and her students were responsible for inspiring Coppola to make the film. The film is noted for its cast of up-and-coming stars, including C. Thomas Howell, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, Leif Garrett and Diane Lane. The film helped spark the Brat Pack genre of the 1980s. Both Lane and Dillon went on to appear in Coppola's related film Rumble Fish. Emilio Estevez went on to be in That Was Then... This Is Now, the only S. E. Hinton film adaptation not to star Matt Dillon. The movie positive reviews from critics, and performed well at the box office, grossing $33 million on a $10 million budget.