Empire Records

Empire Records is a 1995 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film that follows a group of record store employees over the course of one exceptional day. The employees try to stop the store from being sold to a large chain, and learn about each other along the way. The film was directed by Allan Moyle and stars Anthony LaPaglia, Robin Tunney, Rory Cochrane, Renée Zellweger, Ethan Embry, Johnny Whitworth and Liv Tyler. The film generated largely negative reviews and major losses at the domestic US box office at its release but later went on to become a cult hit, helping to launch the careers of several of its stars.

Plot
The film depicts 24 hours in the lives of the employees at an independent record store in Delaware. The perpetually exasperated store manager Joe allows employee Lucas to close the store for the first time. While counting the day's receipts in Joe's office, Lucas discovers that Empire Records is about to be sold and converted into a branch of Music Town, a large national chain. In an effort to keep the store independent, Lucas takes the day's cash receipts of $9,000 to a casino in Atlantic City to quadruple it and save the store. Though he doubles the money on his first roll, he loses it all on the second.

Lucas is found the following morning by opening manager A.J. and pothead employee Mark. He confides in the pair about the previous night's events, just before Joe arrives and quickly receives phone calls from both the bank and the store owner, Mitchell Beck, asking about the missing deposit.

Other employees arrive, including overachieving high school student Corey and her uninhibited best friend Gina. Hostile employee Deb, who appears to have survived an apparent suicide attempt, also arrives, as well as Deb's boyfriend and co-worker Berko. Joe confronts Lucas about the missing deposit, and Lucas confirms the money is gone. Part-time employee Eddie, who also works at a pizza parlor, arrives as Joe explains to the employees his anti-Music Town plan – he had saved enough money to invest and become part-owner of the store to save it, but will now be $9,000 short when he covers for the missing money with Mitchell.

Joe is distracted from dealing with the crisis due to a scheduled store event: Rex Manning, a 1980s pop idol, is due to arrive at the store for an autograph session to promote his new album. The staff is unenthused and reacts by mocking "Rex Manning Day," and ultimately many of the fans showing up to meet him are either older women or gay men; even Rex's assistant Jane reveals her distaste for Rex's music.

Though detained by Joe, Lucas takes the opportunity to apprehend a belligerent young shoplifter who identifies himself only as "Warren Beatty". Encouraged by Gina, Corey indulges her schoolgirl crush on Rex by attempting to seduce him, but is humiliated by his response; A.J. then chooses the inopportune time to confess his love for Corey, which she rejects. After Gina and Corey argue about their respective reputations, Gina has sex with Rex. When they are discovered by the staff, A.J. starts a fight with Rex, Gina reveals the furious Corey's addiction to amphetamines, Corey hysterically trashes the store, and Joe throws Rex out.

Deb reacts uncharacteristically to the breakdown of the seemingly-perfect Corey by cheering her up, and in return Corey holds a mock funeral for Deb which the whole staff attends. The troubled shoplifter "Warren" returns to the store with a gun (ultimately loaded with blanks), and Lucas defuses the situation by revealing that he himself was a troubled youth until he was taken in by Joe. Joe offers Warren a job at the store.

After the police leave, Lucas admits defeat, and suggests confessing the truth to Mitchell. However, the staff and Jane — who has since quit working for Rex — pool their own $3,000 to replace the missing money. Suddenly inspired, Mark runs in front of the store to a news crew covering the holdup and announces on live TV a late night benefit party to "Save the Empire." The store opens its doors, sells beer and their own property, and collects donations during an impromptu concert by Berko and Gina. Joe hands the money to Mitchell, who confesses that he hates the store, agreeing to work out a 100% sale to Joe.

Corey finally catches up with a dejected A.J. on the roof fixing the Empire Records sign and admits that she loves him, and he reveals that he has decided to attend art school in Boston so he can be near her at Harvard. They kiss, as the staff ends the long day with a dance party on the roof.

Cast

 * Anthony LaPaglia as Joe Reaves
 * Maxwell Caulfield as Rex Manning
 * Debi Mazar as Jane
 * Rory Cochrane as Lucas
 * Johnny Whitworth as A.J.
 * Robin Tunney as Debra
 * Renee Zellweger as Gina
 * Ethan Randall as Mark
 * Coyote Shivers as Berko
 * Brendan Sexton as Warren
 * Liv Tyler as Corey Mason
 * James 'Kimo' Wills as Eddie
 * Ben Bode as Mitchell Beck

After five years of film and television credits, this was Ethan Randall's last credit before adopting the stage name Ethan Embry.

Production
Two days after Regency Enterprises executive Michael Nathanson gave approval to proceed with making Empire Records, he was approached with the script for Clueless. As he already had a "teen movie" in hand, he turned down the eventual $57 million box office hit, and proceeded with production of the eventual box-office bomb of Empire Records.

The film was severely edited in post-production, removing three significant characters and up to 40 minutes of film. The story was also condensed from occurring over two days to a single day.

Exteriors were filmed at 15 South Front Street in Wilmington, North Carolina, in a bar that had a few feet of space converted into a replica of the store set which was located at Carolco (now Screen Gems) studios, and finished with a large picture of the rest of the store. This allowed the actors to enter the exterior location doors and walk a couple of feet before the scene would cut to the interior set on Soundstage 4 at the studio. The large mural of Gloria Estefan which Mark kisses early in the film was visible for many years on the separate building, on South Water Street, that stood in for the back of the store.

The Rex Manning music video "Say No More, Mon Amour" was shot prior to principal photography, and was shot on Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina in one day. It was only intended to be a 17-second dance move piece for the main actors to make fun of in the film. However, the director of the music video shot for the entire day and gave the producers an entire 4:30 music video.

Critical reception
The film did poorly at the box office and received negative reviews upon its 1995 release. TV Guide gave the film 2 stars out of 5, calling it a "lame comedy" that appeared to be little more than "an elaborate excuse to package and peddle a soundtrack CD."

Variety called Empire Records a "soundtrack in search of a movie", describing the film as "one teen-music effort that never finds a groove" before adding that "as far as chart action goes, it could use a bullet -- to put it out of its B.O. misery."

Roger Ebert called the film a "lost cause," but presciently wrote that some of the actors might have a future in other, better films; LaPaglia, Cochrane, Zellweger, Tyler, Embry and Tunney all went on to varying levels of greater success in the years following Empire Records.

As of March 2019, Empire Records has a 29% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 34 reviews with the consensus: "Despite a terrific soundtrack and a strong early performance from Renee Zellweger, Empire Records is mostly a silly and predictable teen dramedy."

Background
The soundtrack album for Empire Records was originally attached to Atlantic Records—an affiliate of Warner Bros. at the time—because Warner Bros. had a distribution pact with the film's producers, Regency Enterprises. However, the soundtrack album was given to A&M Records in order to obtain the participation of A&M artists the Gin Blossoms, whose track "Til I Hear It from You" was issued as the lead single. Besides the Gin Blossoms, four other A&M acts had new tracks released on the soundtrack album, namely Ape Hangers, Drill, Innocence Mission, and Lustre.

The album also introduced tracks by Better Than Ezra, Cracker, the Cranberries, Evan Dando (whose cover of Big Star's "The Ballad of El Goodo" featured Empire Records female lead Liv Tyler on background vocals), and Toad The Wet Sprocket, and by unsigned acts the Martinis, Please, and Coyote Shivers. The Martinis—featuring former Pixies members Joey Santiago and Dave Lovering—were recommended by Hits magazine president Karen Glauber who was musical consultant for Empire Records, while the film's line music supervisor Bob Knickman discovered Please by searching the internet for unsigned talent suitable for the film's soundtrack. Coyote Shivers, who played aspiring-musician-turned-store-clerk Berko in the film, became involved in the project by virtue of being the stepfather of Liv Tyler (Shivers being married to Tyler's mother, Bebe Buell, at the time).

Two previously released tracks were also included on the original release of the Empire Records soundtrack album, namely "A Girl Like You" by Edwyn Collins and "Ready, Steady, Go" by the Meices (the latter's frontman Joe Reineke subsequently led Alien Crime Syndicate). "The Honeymoon Is Over" by the Cruel Sea, a track heard in the film but not featured on the US release of the soundtrack album, was included on the German and Australian releases.

The Gin Blossoms' "Til I Hear It From You" charted as high as #9, affording the band their first Top 20 hit. Two other tracks from the album had a single release: Edwyn Collins' "A Girl Like You," which charted at #32, and the Ape Hangers' "I Don't Want to Live Today".

The Empire Records soundtrack peaked at #63 on the album chart.

Gin Blossoms frontman Robin Wilson would say of Empire Records, "[It's] a classic film that only a handful of people really saw, but it definitely made an impact on that generation. It was really cool to have been a part of that".

The film's score was composed and conducted by Basil Poledouris.

Track listing

 * 1) "Til I Hear It from You" by Gin Blossoms
 * 2) "Liar" by The Cranberries
 * 3) "A Girl Like You" by Edwyn Collins
 * 4) "Free" by The Martinis
 * 5) "Crazy Life" by Toad the Wet Sprocket
 * 6) "Bright As Yellow" by The Innocence Mission
 * 7) "Circle of Friends" by Better Than Ezra
 * 8) "I Don't Want to Live Today" by Ape Hangers
 * 9) "Whole Lotta Trouble" by Cracker
 * 10) "Ready, Steady, Go" by The Meices
 * 11) "What You Are" by Drill
 * 12) "Nice Overalls" by Lustre
 * 13) "Here It Comes Again" by Please
 * 14) "The Ballad of El Goodo" by Evan Dando
 * 15) "Sugarhigh" by Coyote Shivers
 * 16) "The Honeymoon Is Over" by The Cruel Sea (Australian and German edition)

Songs in the film not listed on soundtrack

 * "Can't Stop Losing Myself" by Dirt Clods
 * "Hey Joe" by Body Count
 * "Dark and Brooding" by Noah Stone
 * "Thorn in My Side" by Quicksand
 * "Little Thing" by Nice Ponys (as Nice Ponies)
 * "I Don't Know Why" by Sacrilicious
 * "Real" by Real
 * "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)" by AC/DC
 * "Counting Blue Cars" by Dishwalla
 * "Snakeface" by Throwing Muses
 * "Candy" by Full Tilt Gonzo
 * "How" by The Cranberries
 * "Hardlight" by Pegboy
 * "Chew Toy" by Fig Dish
 * "Power Shack" by Fitz of Depression
 * "Saddam A Go-Go" by Gwar
 * "Backdown Blues" by Loose Diamonds
 * "Tomorrow" by Mouth Music
 * "Plowed" by Sponge
 * "Surround You" by Billy White Trio
 * "L.A. Girl" by Adolescents
 * "Vinyl Advice" by Dead Hot Workshop
 * "This Is the Day" by The The
 * "Say No More (Mon Amour)" by Maxwell Caulfield as Rex Manning (written for the film)
 * "She Walks" by Poster Children
 * "Sorry" by Sybil Vane
 * "Infinity" by Mouth Music
 * "Money (That's What I Want)" by Flying Lizards
 * "Sugar High (ft. Renee Zellweger)" by Coyote Shivers
 * "Seems" by Queen Sarah Saturday
 * "Romeo and Juliet" by Dire Straits
 * "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles
 * "I Shot the Devil" by Suicidal Tendencies
 * "Smooth up in ya" by Bulletboys
 * "Rock 'n' Roll/EGA" by Daniel Johnston

Remix: Special Fan Edition DVD
On June 3, 2003 Warner Bros. released the Remix: Special Fan Edition DVD of Empire Records. The unrated version includes four extra scenes and 16 minutes of additional footage (107 total). The Fan edition also includes the popular music video Rex Manning 'Say No More, Mon Amour' directed for the film by Jordan Dawes.

For the 2015 Blu-ray release from the film's new owner 20th Century Fox, only the theatrical cut has been included, with the extras ported over from the 2003 "Remix! Special Fan Edition" DVD.

A high definition version of the fan edition would eventually see a release but only in digital format via online retailers such as Vudu.

Legacy
An Internet meme among the film's fans celebrates "Rex Manning Day" on April 8, the date Rex appears at Empire Records in the film. #RexManningDay is a recurring trending hashtag on Twitter. GIFs commemorating the event show Embry's character bounding down the stairs from the store's loft, declaring "Not on Rex Manning Day!!"

Musical adaptation
It was announced on April 6, 2018 that a musical adaptation of the movie is aiming for Broadway in 2020. The show will be produced by Bill Weiner; music and lyrics by Zoe Sarnak and book by Carol Heikkinen.