Winona Ryders Lucas Was a Box-Office Flop That Changed Teen Movies Forever

Like all great films about the stormy passage through adolescence and high school, the 1986 coming-of-age film Lucas inspires a strong sense of curiosity regarding how the films teenage characters turned out as adults, even as the stars of the film have been immortalized over time. Lucas features early starring performances from Corey Haim and Charlie Sheen, whose tumultuous lives make their touching performances in the movie seem heartbreaking in retrospect. It also marked the screen acting debuts of Jeremy Piven, Courtney Thorne-Smith, and especially Winona Ryder, whose assured performance in the film heralded Ryders emergence as one of the most exciting and interesting young actresses of her generation.