Skip to main content

Never say die! A Goonies sequel is still a possibility, says director Richard Donner

a goonies sequel may happen says director richard donner
Image used with permission by copyright holder
There may still be hope for a sequel to the 1985 cult classic The Goonies — but don’t pencil it into your calendar just yet.

Director Richard Donner revealed the possibility of a return to the beloved coming-of-age flick from the mind of Steven Spielberg during an interview looking back on the film’s production. Along with the sequel tease, Donner also detailed his upcoming “immersive theater” off-Broadway adaptation of the storied comedy.

“…You go into a warehouse and there’s something happening in that warehouse and that’s the play you’ve come to see, only you become part of it and you travel through with actors,” said the director about his new project. “It’s very popular now … It will take another year or so but it’s going to be wonderful.”

Speaking about the possibility of coming back to the story for a second movie, Donner left the door open.

“Again, everything takes a long time to get it right,” he explained. “If you do things fast and quick and easy, that’s a disservice. But if there were going to be another movie it would take us a long time to get it right, because we have a lot of history that we’re involved with and a lot of integrity that we have to keep to what once was, and lives a life of its own without destroying it.”

“Maybe the powers that be are working on something,” Donner said.

It’s certainly not the first time the director hinted at a sequel. Last April, he told TMZ that he was making a follow-up film and he “wants to bring back the entire cast.” His recent comments aren’t as definitive but they’re more positive than Goonies’ screenwriter Chris Columbus’ thoughts on the subject in April. Columbus told MTV that while rumors of a sequel have been around for years, he’s unsure if it will ever happen. When prodded further, he explained the difficulty was in “cracking the right story without offending the sensibility of the original story.”

That’s always the trick, but never say never. Spielberg’s most recent return to an beloved older property as producer, a little film called Jurassic World, broke more records than a cyclone at a Sam Goody in the mid ’80s. We’ll have to wait and see if the stars align to bring back that old magic once again.

Chris Leo Palermino
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Chris Leo Palermino is a music, tech, business, and culture journalist based between New York and Boston. He also contributes…
The 10 most popular movies on Netflix right now
A woman points a gun and stares.

Netflix is one of the most popular streaming services in the world, with nearly 250 million subscribers. And just what do those people tend to watch? In particular, what is the most popular movie on Netflix? Each week, the streaming service releases a list of its 10 most-watched movies over a recent seven-day period to keep subscribers in the loop regarding its most popular titles.

Zack Snyder is back in the top 10 with Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver, the second film in his space opera series. Despite Snyder's popularity, the new Rebel Moon film could not unseat What Jennifer Did, which is the No. 1 movie for the second straight week. New additions to the top 10 include the comedy Knocked Up at No. 8 and the action movie Anna at No. 2. Below, we've listed the top 10 movies in the U.S. from April 15 to April 21, along with general information about each film, such as genre, rating, cast, and synopsis.

Read more
Deadpool & Wolverine: Everything we know about the film formerly known as Deadpool 3
Deadpool and Wolverine stand together in Deadpool & Wolverine.

In retrospect, we should have suspected that Deadpool & Wolverine wouldn't keep its most famous co-star out of the title. In 2022, Ryan Reynolds coaxed Hugh Jackman into reprising his role as Wolverine for the first time since 2017's Logan. Once that happened, the name Deadpool 3 didn't fully convey how monumental this film would be.

So Marvel Studios has officially retitled it as Deadpool & Wolverine. Jackman has also humorously rebranded the film as Wolverine & [expletive], which would make this R-rated flick a lot harder to market!

Read more
5 years ago, Game of Thrones aired its last great episode. Here’s why it still holds up
Jamie knights Brienne in episode 2 of Game of Thrones season 8.

Many fans would likely agree that Game of Thrones went out not with a bang, but a profound whimper. After dominating pop culture for nearly 10 years, the hit HBO series concluded with a trio of episodes that were universally reviled by both fans and critics alike. The show's lackluster, ham-fisted finale led to its popularity seemingly vanishing into thin air. In the five years since it aired, time hasn't been kind to Game of Thrones season 8.

To this day, many people still discuss the series' final season with a mix of bitterness and disbelief, and those fans won't find any disagreement about the quality of Game of Thrones' last few chapters here. As disappointing as its eighth season remains, though, April 21 marked the five-year anniversary of its noteworthy second episode, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The fan-favorite installment ranks not only as its season's best chapter, but also as the last great episode that Game of Thrones ever produced.

Read more