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Cocoon
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ron Howard
Produced by	David Brown Richard Zanuck
Written by	Tom Benedek David Saperstein
Starring	Don Ameche (Arthur) Wilford Brimley (Ben) Hume Cronyn (Joe) Jessica Tandy (Alma) Maureen Stapleton (Marilyn) Gwen Verdon (Bess) Steve Guttenberg (Jack) Brian Dennehy (Walter) Jack Gilford (Bernie)
Music by	James Horner
Cinematography	Donald Peterman
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	June 21, 1985
Running time	117 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English
Followed by	Cocoon: The Return
IMDb profile

Cocoon is a 1985 science fiction film, directed by Ron Howard about a group of elderly people who are rejuvenated by aliens. The movie starred Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy, Jack Gilford, Steve Guttenberg, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, Gwen Verdon, Herta Ware, Tahnee Welch, and Linda Harrison.

The movie was filmed in and around St. Petersburg, Florida: locations included the St Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, The Coliseum, and Snell Arcade buildings.

It spawned one sequel, Cocoon: The Return, in which almost all of the original cast reprised their roles.

Around 10,000 years ago, a group of peaceful alien lifeforms, from the planet Anterea, formed an outpost on the planet Earth on an island known to mankind as the mythical civilization Atlantis. As per legend, this outpost sank due to an earthquake, and in order for them to leave, 20 members remained behind so that the rest would have enough lifeforce to return to their home planet.

Eventually, a group of four Antereans returns to pick them up. They disguise themselves as humans, rent a house with a pool, and charge this pool with lifeforce, so that the cocooned Antereans can sustain enough energy to survive the trip home.

Meanwhile, three local residents from a retirement home (played by Wilford Brimley, Don Ameche, and Hume Cronyn) go to swim in the pool secretly and take in some of the lifeforce, which causes them to feel younger, stronger, and happier again. They are caught, but are eventually given permission by the head Anterean to use the pool through negotiation with one of them. One of the other elderly people from the retirement home (played by Jack Gilford) well-known for his extreme pessimism, who also knows of the nature of the aliens, obstinately refuses to use the healing power that he and his dying spouse need. He accidentally spills the beans one day by confronting his "pool" friends out loud about it during a group dinner at the retirement home, resulting in all of the elderly residents breaking in on to the Antereans' property and barging themselves into the pool. Through careless overload in the pool from the elders of how many of them use it at once, and by some of them carelessly tampering with a few of the cocoons, all the life force is drained, and the Antereans cannot take along the cocoons anymore. With the help of the three friends they return the cocoons to the ruins of Atlantis. About 30 of the elderly return with the Antereans to their homeland, achieving immortality.

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• The dialogue in the scene where Wilford Brimley fishes with his grandson was totally improvized after Brimley suggested to the director that his character talk to the boy, originally the scene was shorter with no dialogue, just showing them fishing.
• Initially Robert Zemeckis was attached to direct Cocoon, but, after working on the project for a year, he was replaced with Ron Howard. Zemeckis later explained, "I was fired from Cocoon! Not because I was difficult or anything [but] because I showed them the rough cut of [my film] Romancing the Stone. The next day: Wham!"^[1] 1984's Romancing the Stone, dismissed by many studio insiders as a surefire flop, actually became a surprise hit upon its release.
• The music during the Coast Guard chase scene at the end of the film features a cue of "The Genesis Countdown" from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The cue can be heard just before Ben's grandson jumps overboard to distract the Coast Guard boats. Both soundtracks were composed and conducted by film composer, James Horner.
• Ron Howard's brother, mother and father all appear in the film. His brother, Clint Howard, portrays "John Dexter", one of the nursing home orderlies.
• Wilford Brimley was only 50 years old at the time of this film's production. He had to have his hair dyed gray in order to make him look geriatric.
• Hume Cronyn was a Golden Gloves boxer and lost sight in one eye. In the scene where he hits the young orderly, without depth perception, he actually hit the young man and knocked him out.
• The effects team revealed in interviews that the dolphins in the underwater scenes were animatronic, not live ones.
• In the episode 'My Five Stages' (Season 5, ep.13) of the sitcom Scrubs, J.D describes what death will be like for a patient, to which Dr. Hedrick replies, "That was the ending to...Cocoon."

• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Don Ameche in 1985
• Academy Award for Visual Effects in 1985