Thirty years ago, the biggest celebrities on earth opened a chain restaurant. For a few years, it was the hottest ticket in town. Then it went bankrup

The Rise and Fall of Planet Hollywood

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2021-06-12 06:30:04

Thirty years ago, the biggest celebrities on earth opened a chain restaurant. For a few years, it was the hottest ticket in town. Then it went bankrupt. Twice. The brains behind this pop-culture phenomenon explain how it happened.

Roseanne Barr stood behind three feet of neon-blue glass, bottles of gin, vodka, bourbon, and tequila lined up behind her. White cement squares with handprints covered the walls. It was September 17, 1995; Barr was the reigning queen of prime-time television, but on this particular night she was wearing an oversize red T-shirt adorned with PLANET HOLLYWOOD across its front, cleaning a glass behind the bar at America’s most popular chain restaurant.

Patrick Swayze, seven years on from his Dirty Dancing performance, sidled up to the bar. His hair was trimmed short, a sweep of bangs covering his forehead. A couple buddies with him: Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo. He paused, eyeballing Barr. “Hey, can I get a Pink Lady?”

The din of the crowd picked up, drowning out the music. Surrounding the revelers that night was movie memorabilia: Rita Hayworth’s dress from Gilda, Nurse Ratched’s hospital whites from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates. The Planet Hollywood logo loomed large, reflected on the ceiling.