Xanadu is a 1980 romantic musical fantasy film written by Richard Christian Danus and Marc Reid Rubel and directed by Robert Greenwald. The title is a reference to the poem "Kubla Khan, or, A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which is quoted in the film. Xanadu is the name of the Chinese province where Khan establishes his pleasure garden in the poem. The film's plot was inspired by 1947's Down to Earth. A stage musical based on the film—also named Xanadu—opened in 2007 on Broadway. Xanadu stars Olivia Newton-John, Michael Beck, and Gene Kelly, and... features music by Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra, Cliff Richard, and The Tubes. The film also features animation by Don Bluth. Sonny Malone is a talented artist who dreams of fame beyond his job, which is the uncreative task of painting larger versions of album covers for record-store window advertisements. As the film opens, Sonny is broke and on the verge of giving up his dream. Having quit his day job to try to make a living as a freelance artist, but having failed to make any money at it, Sonny returns to his old job at AirFlo Records.
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| Release date: | August 8, 1980 |
| Directed by: | Robert Greenwald |
| Rated: |  |
| Runtime: | 93 Minutes |
| Producer: | Lawrence Gordon, Joel Silver |
| Editor: | Dennis Virkler |
| Music by: | John Farrar, Jeff Lynne, Barry De Vorzon |
| Cinematography: | Victor J. Kemper |
| Screenplay by: | Richard Christian Danus, Marc Reid Rubel, William Mastrosimone |
| Estimated budget: | $20,000,000 |
| Adapted from: | Down to Earth |
| Genre: | Musical, Fantasy |