Why The Goonies 2 By no means Occurred

So far as beloved household journey films go, “The Goonies” nonetheless holds up some 40 years after it arrived on the scene, turning into certainly one of the very best youngsters films ever made. The traditional Richard Donner-directed 1985 movie, which follows a bunch of children on a treasure hunt to avoid wasting their neighborhood from being torn down, is as integral to some followers’ childhoods as “ET: The Additional Terrestrial” or “The NeverEnding Story” (ie. different movies the place completely nothing emotionally scarring occurs). It additionally helped make stars out of the likes of Corey Feldman, Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, and Ke Huy Quan, and includes a killer Cyndi Lauper track in addition.

Like so many different revered ’80s hits that audiences hold going again to for a dose of nostalgia, nevertheless, “The Goonies” has but to obtain a correct followup. By this level, it is secure to say “The Goonies 2” would possible take the type of a legacy sequel, full with nods to the unique movie, the returning forged wanting a lot older, and a brand new era of heroes to probably carry the torch ahead. Properly, whereas that may appear to be an concept followers might heat as much as, they’d be higher off tempering these expectations. In fact, “The Goonies 2” has been caught within the will-they, gained’t-they part for many years … and so far as the celebs of Donner’s film are involved, the Goonies could by no means say “die,” however at this level maybe it is time that discuss of a sequel did.

Attempting to get clarification on whether or not “The Goonies 2” might ever truly occur is somewhat like making an attempt to maneuver by way of a sequence of underground tunnels to find One-Eyed Willy’s wealthy stuff. Earlier than his passing, Donner stated in quite a few interviews that makes an attempt had certainly been made to return to the Goon Docks in a brand new installment however that not each actor on board. “We tried actually exhausting. [Executive producer] Steven [Spielberg] and I, we pitched a few issues to them and, fairly actually, they weren’t proper,” Donner instructed IGN in 2006. “And we put it apart. If I might ever discover a actually good deal with on a screenplay for it, I would go pitch it once more, as a result of speaking about [something] I would need to see. […] It is extraordinary. However it’s acquired to be proper, or do not do it, as a result of I could not imagine that film.”

By 2020, Steven Spielberg — who additionally cracked the story for “The Goonies” along with serving as an govt producer on the movie — did not have a lot so as to add to that. “[‘Goonies’ screenwriter] Chris [Columbus], Dick, and I […] have had lots of conversations about it,” the legendary director defined on Josh Gad’s “Reunited Aside” on the time. “Each couple of years we give you an concept, however then it would not maintain water.” Sadly, solely a yr after that, Donner handed away, forsaking an unbelievable physique of labor and an area for the sequel that few would dare to fill. Nonetheless, as rightfully put by one of many authentic Goonies, who would even need to see it, anyway?

Even after Donner’s dying, murmurs of a sequel to “The Goonies” have continued as not too long ago as 2024, with Martha Plimpton, who performed Stef within the authentic movie, taking to Instagram to debunk a report from The Solar {that a} sequel was gearing as much as begin filming in 2025. Bursting the bubble for followers all over the world, Plimpton merely wrote, “Individuals, there is no such thing as a ‘Goonies 2’ script, there is no such thing as a one ‘hooked up,’ Spielberg shouldn’t be directing. It isn’t actual.” It may not be the information followers needed to listen to, however within the eyes of the oldest Goonie, Josh Brolin, maybe that is a very good factor.

When requested a couple of “Goonies” sequel throughout a March 2024 interview with Yahoo!, the “Dune” star — who performed Astin’s onscreen older brother in Donner’s authentic film — had a blunt response. “Personally, why? Have you learnt what I imply? I do not prefer it,” he admitted. “The film exists in a extremely great method, era after era I get to see that.” Even in spite of everything these years, Brolin cherishes the place “The Goonies” holds within the hearts of audiences and has no want to taint that. “I imply, it is such a beautiful factor that exists that you just get to see have an effect on folks, and why do that you must weigh it out with one thing else? Inform me, what wouldn’t it be like?” he added. And in case you really need a solution to that, technically all that you must do is hearth up an previous Nintendo Leisure System to search out out.

Whereas some followers would possibly nonetheless be holding out hope that we’ll be dusting off our treasure maps and practising our piano taking part in for a cinematic “Goonies” sequel within the foreseeable future, there’s already a “Goonies” online game followup titled “The Goonies II: The Fratellis’ Final Stand.” Launched for the NES in 1987 and developed by Konami, “The Goonies II” not solely reunited us with Mikey and his buddies, but it surely was additionally one of many first-ever exploration platform video games.

Whereas it may be slightly dated these days, the sport does function a plot that sees MIkey going it alone after the remainder of the Goonies are kidnapped by the Fratellis following one other jail break. Over the course of the sport, Mikey step by step rescues the opposite members of the Goonies one after the other, together with a mermaid named Annie that the Fratellis had additionally bagged (due to course they did).

Suffice it to say, had been a film sequel to “The Goonies” ever to occur, it must be dramatically totally different from “The Goonies II.” However between Donner passing away and even members of the unique “Goonies” forged talking out in opposition to the concept of returning to the Goon Docks, the closest factor we would ultimately get to a different “Goonies” movie could be a associated undertaking on Disney+ (one which, very similar to “The Goonies 2,” additionally has but to get totally off the bottom).

In 2021, Disney+ snagged the rights to a brand new present a couple of group of children who movie a shot-for-shot remake of “The Goonies,” The sequence, titled “Our Time” (which references Mike’s legendary speech about whether or not the Goonies ought to push on with their journey or abandon their goals of saving their houses), would particularly deal with a college trainer who, after returning residence, helps a trio of children remake their favourite film (“The Goonies,” naturally). It is a undertaking that will virtually definitely garner the eye of “Goonies” followers … assuming it ever truly will get going, that’s.

Previous to Disney getting its outsized mouse-shaped mitts on it, “Our Time” was initially developed as a pilot for Fox in 2020 earlier than making the transfer to Disney+ after Fox determined it skewed too younger for its functions. Since then, nevertheless, there’ve been little to nothing in the way in which of additional updates to report on. That is not too stunning at this stage, both, given Disney’s hit or miss observe report in terms of nostalgia-heavy originals for its streaming service. In spite of everything, the Home of Mouse invested an entire lot of cash into making a “Willow” legacy sequel sequence for Disney+, solely to swiftly cancel the present after a single season and take away it from the streaming service completely.

There’s additionally one other and maybe extra evident situation — particularly, any try to proceed the “Goonies” franchise immediately must cope with heavy competitors from the religious descendants of Donner’s movie that’ve popped up in recent times.

These days, there are quite a few movies and TV reveals that’ve completed a bang-up job tapping into the spirit of childhood journey that “The Goonies” embodied. Streaming sequence like “Stranger Issues” and “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” equally evoke the reminiscence of Mikey and his gang tearing down a avenue on their bikes with their very own imagery of children going through hazard and setting off for locations unknown. It isn’t unintentional, both. Within the case of “Skeleton Crew,” creators/showrunners Jon Watts and Christopher Ford have confessed that they even tried to get actors from “The Goonies” to make the journey to a galaxy far, distant for their very own family-friendly story a couple of group of kids who depart their residence behind searching for journey.

“We had talked about that as an general casting concept probably, the place it is like, ought to we discover some youngsters that had been in these films and now forged them as some grownup characters?” as Watts beforehand revealed to ComicBook. “However it wasn’t sufficient to actually carry by way of. However no, there’s positively a chance there.” After all, even when they did, this type of signing was already achieved over in Hawkins with “Stranger Issues” when Astin joined the sequence as Bob Newby, the temporary and extremely courageous boyfriend of Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) and a knight in a shining yellow raincoat identical to his youthful hero. It is by way of these moments and homages that we have already gotten to get pleasure from loads of revisits to the Goon Docks not directly or one other, even with out an precise “Goonies” sequel.