Foxwoods Resort Casino is bringing three of the kids from Castle Rock back together under one roof. The Premier Theater will host a special screening of Stand By Me followed by a live reunion and conversation with original stars Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell and Wil Wheaton, part of a wave of events marking the beloved 1986 film's 40th anniversary this year.
Seed information tied to the announcement places the Foxwoods event at 7 p.m. on March 5, in the casino's Premier Theater, according to CT Insider. Tickets are expected to be available for purchase through the Foxwoods website, per the same report. Foxwoods has said in a recent news release that Stand By Me has spoken to timeless themes of growing up, childhood bonds and lasting memories, CT Insider reports.
The format mirrors what's playing out at other stops on the trio's spring circuit. According to standbymelive.com, audiences can expect to experience the film on the big screen once more, followed by an intimate, long-awaited reunion and live, in-person conversation with the stars. The site lays out an approximate three-hour runtime: a 1-hour-25-minute film screening, a 15-minute intermission, and a 1-hour-15-minute moderated discussion.
River Phoenix Expected to Be Part of the Conversation
Part of what makes these reunions resonate is the absence at the center of them. River Phoenix, who performed an iconic role in Stand By Me, died in 1993, and per a recent news release cited by CT Insider, the reunion conversation will include memories and reflections on working with their late co-star. The event website echoes that framing, noting the evening will also include heartfelt reflections on working with their friend and co-star, the late River Phoenix, per standbymelive.com.
Following the film, organizers plan a live-moderated Q&A session, with standbymelive.com noting that questions may be submitted prior to the show in the lobby. The site also makes clear that photography, video recording, and audio recording are not permitted during the performance, so this is one to watch with your phone tucked away.
VIP Packages and Ticketing Details
For fans wanting more than a seat in the crowd, the event offers tiered upgrades. Per standbymelive.com, three VIP packages are available — Snapshot VIP, Keepsake VIP and Premium VIP — with the Snapshot tier including a professionally shot photo with Jerry O'Connell, Corey Feldman and Wil Wheaton. Comparable stops on the tour have offered similar add-ons; at Proctors in Schenectady, a limited number of VIP upgrades were also available, including an autographed poster, a post-show photo opportunity or both, according to Proctors Collaborative.
That Schenectady date was set for 7:30 p.m. on a Saturday in January, per the same Proctors announcement, giving a sense of how the tour has been rolling out city by city ahead of the Foxwoods stop. The broader push began with an announcement that, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the 1986 film, original stars Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell and Wil Wheaton were hitting the road for live dates in spring 2026, according to BroadwayWorld.
A Theatrical Rerelease Rounds Out the Anniversary
The reunion tour isn't the only way audiences can revisit the film this year. UPI reported that Stand By Me was slated to run for one week in theaters, March 27 through April 3, as part of the broader 40th-anniversary push. The same report noted that Wheaton, Feldman and O'Connell have also been hosting reunion screenings with Q&As, a format consistent with what's planned at Foxwoods.
Foxwoods Resort Casino is advising guests attending the event to park in the Fox Tower, and the casino has said shopping bags and backpacks will be prohibited at the event. For a theater built on a story about a handful of kids chasing something bigger than themselves down a set of train tracks, four decades later, it's the grown men who played them taking the stage — and sharing the parts of the story that time didn't let everyone finish.
