So many classic movies came out of the 1980s. From coming-of-age John Hughes’ films like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink to Back to the Future and National Lampoon’s Vacation, so many flicks have been adored for decades. Of course, not all beloved ’80s movies started out on a high note. Case in point, the total box office failure, Xanadu.
Released in 1980, the movie starred Olivia Newton-John, Michael Beck, and the legendary Gene Kelly, but despite having a stellar cast, it completely flopped in theaters. The plot centered around a man who was down on his luck and feeling uninspired in his career, until a muse came into his life and helped him achieve his lifelong dream.
It had a $20 million budget and only grossed $23 million. The outcome was so bad, in fact, that it even served as some of the inspiration behind the now-famous Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies).
So, why was Xanadu so poorly received by viewers? As a lifelong fan of the flick, it’s tough for me to understand how anyone could not enjoy it, especially given the incredible music featured right from the start of the movie. Just watch the “I’m Alive” scene below and try and refrain from singing along and/or getting up and dancing. Featuring the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), who is behind most of the music on the entire soundtrack, it’s incredibly catchy.
Ok, ok — so the idea of a muse coming down from the heavens and roller skating up to a random dude in Palisades Park in Santa Monica and planting a kiss on his lips before skating off into the sunset is a little unrealistic and far-fetched. But hey, that’s part of the film’s charm.
I was about 5 years old or so when I watched it for the first time, and believe it or not, it got me into roller skating. I was completely obsessed with Newton-John’s character, Kira, and I wanted to be her (minus all the gushy romantic stuff). And while she didn’t sing on “I’m Alive,” Newton-John certainly made a mark for herself with other tunes from the movie.
‘Xanadu’s’ Soundtrack Was a Huge Success
Despite the film’s failure, Xanadu‘s soundtrack wound up being number four on the Billboard charts, and it also featured five songs that hit the top 20. “Magic” hit number one on the U.S. charts, while “Xanadu” was a number one in the U.K.
Other popular songs from the film included, “Suddenly,” “All Over the World,” and “Don’t Walk Away,” which featured the cutest animated scene depicted Kira and Sonny (Michael Beck) in their own fish love story.
Of course, there were a couple of other numbers that stole the show in the movie. One of my all-time favorite scenes is in Danny McGuire’s (Gene Kelly’s) Hollywood home — when he has a flashback of his own romance with Kira back in the 1940s. Their duet, “Whenever You’re Away From Me,” is just too good to miss.
Another highly memorable song takes place when Danny and Sonny envision the music playing inside their new club, Xanadu.
If you’ve never seen the movie, do yourself a favor and watch ELO’s incredible 1940s/1980s mashup. You’re welcome.
‘Xanadu’s’ Cult Following Today
While the movie might not have been a success in 1980, over the years, it’s been no secret that it has a pretty strong cult following, which can mostly be credited to the music in the film, and also the iconic actors.
According to Forbes, Newton-John once said in an interview, “The music is great, I got to say… I think the music in Xanadu is fabulous. And the dancing was great too because Kenny Ortega was the choreographer. He had street dancers and things in the film 30-40 years before their time, because that’s really become popular the last like 10 years and he had dancers doing those things then.'”
For those of us who love it, it’s once of those movies that we could watch 100 times and it never gets old, and each time, we notice some little detail or tidbit we never paid attention to before that makes us fall in love with it all over again.
To this day, every time I’m at a roller rink, I feel like I’m channeling Kira again. If only there were a time machine to take me back to the 1980s when a club like Xanadu really did exist.
“A place where nobody dared to go, the love that we came to know, they call it ‘Xanadu.'”
This story was originally reported by Parade on Oct 7, 2025, where it first appeared in the Movies section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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