08/01/2026
The NeverEnding Story hit theaters 42 years ago today on July 20, 1984.
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen in his first English-language film, the fantasy adventure followed a bullied kid named Bastian who ducks into a bookshop, swipes a mysterious book, and gets pulled into the dying world of Fantasia, where a young warrior named Atreyu races to stop a darkness called the Nothing from swallowing everything, luck dragon and all.
The NeverEnding Story opened to $4.3 million and fifth place its first weekend across 950 theaters, then went on to earn roughly $20 million domestically. Built on a budget of about $27 million, it was the most expensive film ever produced outside the US or Soviet Union at the time, a record Petersen took from his own Das Boot.
Fun fact: author Michael Ende, who wrote the original novel, hated the movie so much he tried to halt production, sued to get scenes cut, and pulled his name from the credits. He called it a gigantic melodrama of kitsch, commerce, plush, and plastic. The film only covers the first half of his book, which is why the story feels like it wraps up right when things are getting good.
