©Courtesy of Sony Pictures

The movie that brought a generation together is now coming back to the big screen as a coming-of-age classic.

Columbia Pictures will host a one-week theatrical engagement starting March 27th to celebrate Stand By Me’s 40th anniversary.

Rob Reiner (Misery) directed the 1986 film based on Stephen King’s novella The Body. Will Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, and Kiefer Sutherland star.

In a small, woodsy town in Oregon, Gordie LaChance (Wheaton) is preparing to embark on an extraordinary journey that will change his life forever. Gordie and his friends begin their journey to become local heroes after Vern (O’Connell) overhears his older brother discussing the discovery of a dead body in the woods

The boys’ innocent adventure is soon transformed into a profound odyssey of self-discovery with the help of Chris (Phoenix) and Teddy (Feldman), who are both tough but compassionate. As they journey deeper into the forest, Gordie, Chris, Teddy, and Vern are tested in ways they have never imagined, dealing with fear, loss, and the hardships of growing up

Starman and Raynold Gideon (Starman) wrote “Stand By Me” and were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Wheaton is narrating a new audiobook of The Body, which will be released on March 2.

I’d like to share my experience seeing this film in theaters for the first time. I’d watched it several times on TV before, but my first theater viewing was at the Bungeiza in Ikebukuro, one week after River Phoenix passed away. It was part of a double feature of his films—I don’t recall the other one— During the ending of “Stand by Me“, narrated by an adult Gordie played by Richard Dreyfuss, where Chris, played by River Phoenix, gets stabbed and killed while trying to break up a fight as an adult, it overlapped with the reality that River Phoenix was no longer with us.

In that theater filled mostly with women, no one could stand up; we all sat with our heads bowed, listening to Ben E. King’s song “Stand by Me” with tears in their eyes. That remains an unforgettable cinematic experience etched in my heart. For me, that was the moment this film became truly special, and I still consider it one of those masterpieces that continues to draw me in with its enduring charm.