Rob Lowe visited a home used in the movie The Outsiders yesterday. It was a bittersweet moment for Lowe, who was visiting the house on his 53rd birthday. Oddly enough, Rob told local news Tulsa World that he also spent his 18th birthday filming The Outsiders in that very same place. Lowe’s son Johnny was also with him.
Rob was in town for the NCAA basketball game to root for Duke. The Lowes hung out with The Outsiders author, S.E. Hinton. Rob said the home, which is now a museum , had his old wardrobe on location and humorously described trying to get into the old threads. Hinton and Lowe both signed the walls of the home which is preparing for the big 50th anniversary of the book.
For the pictures, Rob was sporting his Soda Pop Curtis flannel while his Johnny Lowe had on Soda Pop’s gas station ensemble. Lowe shared the visit on his Instagram and his comments on the photos caused fans of The Outsiders movie to lose their minds over speculation that Rob was hinting at a remake of the film.
In the first shared photo, Lowe stood with his son in front of the house with the caption saying something about “passing the torch” (“or towel”– a movie moment in which Lowe emerged from the shower and all teenage girls of the 1980s swooned).
In a video shared on his Instagram, Rob and Johnny face off in an arm wrestling match and Lowe has labeled it “Soda vs Soda 2.0” along with #SecretProject
So, do these two posts mean that the very movie that jump-started Rob Lowe’s career could be just another former classic ’80s movie to get a remake? Surely, if nothing else, they wouldn’t dare to think of remaking The Outsiders out of respect for the now deceased Patrick Swayze, right? Except they have remade classic Swayze movies — Point Break , Red Dawn , Dirty Dancing , and the much-hyped Road House starring Ronda Rousey which is still in the works. (Can we agree to leave Ghost alone, Hollywood?)
Rob Lowe has been very vocal about his disappointment with how The Outsiders came out but that was more for his own personal artistic integrity. When Lowe originated the role of Soda Pop, he saw it as an opportunity to show off his dramatic acting skills. In fact, Rob initially had a long monologue to end the movie. But much to Lowe’s dismay , most of his scenes ended up on the cutting room floor. “It wasn’t a great thing to do to an 18-year-old kid,” Lowe told the Huffington Post as he explained, stating he had no idea until the screening of the film.
Here is the alternate ending for The Outsiders with Lowe’s monologue:
Though some book fans would like to see a remake of The Outsiders due to Francis Ford Coppola’s inability to cover the entire story, fans are guessing (or hoping) Rob Lowe’s super secret project is something different. Rob mentions that his son Johnny is a fellow actor. In fact, Johnny appeared on Rob’s show The Grinder last season. But there is no indication that Johnny Lowe is going to be suiting up as a Curtis brother.
And while IMDb lists a television show called Outsiders , it has nothing to do with the S.E. Hinton book, and the only new The Outsiders movie that could be found had nothing to do with Rob Lowe and is a documentary on children in China.
So, if that’s not Rob Lowe’s secret project, what is? That is something fans have yet to figure out, although his Instagram could provide clues.
Rob Lowe is obviously traveling, and his son Johnny Lowe is apparently also in on the project.
Could DirecTV be making new epic commercials with Rob Lowe? Is Rob Lowe filming new teasers for shark week? The possibilities are endless. Lowe already has his hands full with a role on Code Black , doing the voice of Simba for The Lion Guard and wrapping up two film shoots.
Lowe hasn’t given a timeline for when he will reveal the truth about the project, but hopefully, for now, it seems like the memory of Rob Lowe’s portrayal of Soda Pop Curtis will be preserved.
[Featured Image by Rich Polk/Getty Images]