Sixteen Candles
A neglected teenage girl desperate for recognition navigates a chaotic birthday weekend—balancing a budding crush on the popular senior who’s tied up in his own drama and a house full of eccentric guests—to finally prove she matters to herself and her family.
“Turning sixteen isn't easy, when you've fallen in love... for the first time.”
Synopsis
As her 16th birthday approaches, Samantha feels overshadowed by her sister's impending wedding and faces the milestone with typical teenage anxiety. She is infatuated with the attractive older boy Jake but fears that her virginity might make her unappealing to the popular senior. At the same time, she regularly turns down the advances of the nerdy Ted, the only boy at school who appears to show her any interest.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 54+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Edward WarschilkaShot by Bobby ByrneScored by Ira NewbornDesigned by John W Corso
Box Office
1984 · Box office
✅ Made its money back — grossed 3.6× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$23.7M
Opening weekend: $4.5M — 19% of its US run.
Opening week (7-day): $5.3M — 22% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 1,240 theaters
Full synopsis
Also known as
- Das darf man nur als Erwachsenerde
- Seize bougies pour Samfr
- Sixteen Candles - Un compleanno da ricordareit
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Cast & Crew
54 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Haviland Morris
as Caroline
Gedde Watanabe
as Long Duk Dong
Paul Dooley
as Jim Baker
Carlin Glynn
as Brenda Baker
Molly Ringwald
as Samantha
Anthony Michael Hall
as Geek
Justin Henry
as Mike Baker
Michael Schoeffling
as Jake
Blanche Baker
as Ginny
Edward Andrews
as Howard
Billie Bird
as Dorothy Baker
Carole Cook
as Grandma Helen
Supporting cast
35Max Showalter
as Grandpa Fred
Liane Curtis
as Randy
John Cusack
as Bryce
Darren Harris
as Cliff
Debbie Pollack
as Lumberjack
Ross Berkson
as Ray Gun Geek #1
Jonathan Chapin
as Jimmy Montrose
Joan Cusack
as Geek Girl #1
Brian Doyle Murray
as Reverend
Bekka Eaton
as Female D.J.
Pamela Elser
as Shower Double
Steven Farber
as Ray Gun Geek #2
Jami Gertz
as Robin
Frank Howard
as Freshman
Cinnamon Idles
as Sara
John Kapelos
as Rudy Ryszczyk
Marge Kotlisky
as Irene
Tony Longo
as Rock
Steve Monarque
as Jock
Bill Orsi
as Bruno
Beth Ringwald
as Patty
Zelda Rubinstein
as Organist
Dennis Vero
as Bus Driver
Elaine Wilkes
as Tracy
Adam Rifkin
as Head Nerd (uncredited)
Elizabeth Cox
as High School Student (uncredited)
Erika Pearson
as Student (uncredited)
Andy Hirsch
as Boy with Coronet (uncredited)
James Vallo
as Bandie (uncredited)
Stephan Meyers
as Geek at Dance (uncredited)
Jennifer Scott
as Wallflower (uncredited)
Agnes Belushi
as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Robert Minkoff
as Extra (uncredited)
Sven Granlund
as Extra (uncredited)
The New York City Breakers
as Breakdancers
Directors
1Writers
1Producers
1Other crew
5Parents Guide
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