The Three Mile Island nuclear accident began on March 28, 1979, just twelve days after 'The China Syndrome' opened in theaters. The film, starring Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon, depicted a nuclear power plant experiencing a near-meltdown that utility executives try to cover up. When Three Mile Island's Unit 2 reactor partially melted down in the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history, the film's plot became reality. The timing was so uncanny that 'The China Syndrome' became a case study in cinema's occasional ability to predict the future.