Filmmaker and former Rolling Stone writer Cameron Crowe unboxes his archive from the making of 'Almost Famous' for the 20th anniversary of the release of the film.

Almost Famous hit theaters in the fall of 2000, and despite critical acclaim and four Oscar nominations, it fizzled at the box office. “Everybody went to see this rerelease of The Exorcist instead,” Crowe says. “It felt like the long arm of 1973 came back to slap us down.” Twenty years later, though, Almost Famous has transformed into not just a cult classic, but one of the most beloved movies of its era. “We were an underdog that gathered support over the years,” he says. “It’s never been as popular as it is right now.”

Crowe has been working on a Broadway adaptation of the movie. As Almost Famous turns 20, the writerdirector looks back with a mix of nostalgia and pride: “It’s not written as anything other than ‘I’m getting a chance to do this, like I got a chance to do journalism, and I want to wave a flag for all the people that helped me and paved a path for a music lover like themselves.’ I think people discovered it and brought their own love of music to it, and that is what I’m proudest of.”

Get the full story at: http://www.rollingstone.com/