Goonies2 Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Over on his Times Online pop culture blog, Michael Moran confronted what he considered to be the ten silliest sequel rumors at the moment. His list runs the gamut from projects we've been hearing about for ages -- The Goonies 2 and Ghostbusters 3 -- to ones that never crossed my radar in the slightest (dude, they should totally bring back Katherine Heigl if they go through with Under Siege 3).

For that matter, what's The Wicker Man without a shouting Nic Cage? Or an I Am Legend prequel in which Will Smith finds himself confronted with hardship after hardship until we end up where the first one began? (In that case, simply remake The Pursuit of Happyness, but with a deadly virus replacing crippling poverty.) Speaking of post-apocalyptic pandemics, I do count myself among those pleasantly surprised by how much 28 Weeks Later worked, so I'm more reluctant than ever to write off a third one. (As a bigger fan of Cloverfield, though, I think that they're just pushing their luck with any sort of follow-up.)

Thusly, I ask which, if any, of these sequel/prequel prospects are you guys and gals excited for? And which ones seem downright ludicrous to consider *cough*Blade Runner*cough*Watchmen*cough*300*cough*? (And while I'm at it, anyone else ready to throw in the towel on Pirates of the Caribbean? Oh, wait, we've already had this talk...)

We go through a lot of rumors here at Cinematical, some of which eventually turn out to be true and some false. We normally don't spend a whole lot of time on each rumor; if we're in a position to track down "the real truth" fairly easily, we'll do so. If not, we'll let it slide and see where it goes. The other day, Moviehole came out with some pretty big news: That Warner Bros. was in the beginning stages of putting together a Goonies sequel and that some of the original cast would be involved. Pretty BIG DEAL if you ask me -- Goonies is, like, The Bible for some movie freaks (including me).

That said, we simply had to put this rumor through the wringer. And while we were unable to track down Moviehole's source, we did speak to multiple people "in the know" and they claim it's not at all true. In fact, they suggest this Goonies sequel might be getting confused with a film called Treehouse Gang, which is very similar to Goonies and is actually being described as "Warner's Goonies." That film follows a group of childhood friends/explorers who meet up at their 10-year reunion and wind up on a treasure-hunting adventure. Definitely sounds like the perfect Goonies sequel if, ya know, they filmed it when all those guys were in their late 20s, not late 30s.

Then again, perhaps there's a big cover up taking place and Warners really is secretly working on a Goonies sequel. That we do not know. However, I feel pretty confident in saying that it ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

Ugh. I should've known that with the release of Lost Boys 2, nothing beloved was sacred. Sure, we've posted Goonies 2 rumors before, when Sean Astin called it an "absolute certainty," and when Data and Chunk were approached, even though Josh Brolin had heard nothing. Now, if Moviehole's sources are to be believed, it's definitely on the way. And no, I'm not talking about a Goonies 2 video game re-release. (Will the Wii ever get it!? I keep waiting...)

An unnamed source (one that we'd supposedly "know straight away this was a solid bit of news") said that it is definitely happening -- not as a Tribeish straight-to-video release, but as a full-scale feature film (which WB has confirmed). Writers are whipping it up now, and it'll feature some of the original cast. That's a huge bummer, because the only way I could begin to get intrigued would be if all the surviving people signed on once again. It wasn't too long ago that the entire cast reunited for that DVD commentary, so I'll still hope for a full, or almost full, return.

But still, it's a crapshoot whether this will be worthy of the beloved original. What would they have to do to capture your interest in the sequel?

UPDATE: Corey Feldman tells Moviefone a Goonies sequel will most likely not happen: "Well, 'The Goonies' is one of those mythical sequels that will never happen [laughs]. I mean, it's something that Donner and Spielberg were behind for years and years, and again it's a Warner Bros. issue; they just feel they don't want to take the gamble on making the sequel." Read more ...

Welcome back to The Write Stuff! I'm thrilled that there is such a strong interest in screenwriting out there. Thank you all so much for your comments last week, both here and on my site. All of your questions and comments will be addressed in the coming weeks, so stay tuned and keep them coming!

The first interview for the column is with red-hot screenwriter Adam F. Goldberg. Adam is living the dream. He writes for both television and film, and his upcoming movie projects include Fanboys, the live-action Jetsons movie, and They Came from Upstairs. Cinematical spoke with the incredibly busy Goldberg about his scripts, his process, and Goonies: The Musical.

Cinematical: You said you were being "enslaved by a director," what are you working on? And should I call the authorities?

Adam F. Goldberg: Perhaps call them for my hacky writing! It's called They Came From Upstairs for Fox. It's a family movie, kinda like Gremlins -- but with aliens. The spec was written by Mark Burton and was sold for like $1.7 mil. I believe I am making about .0001212 of that. It's been a really cool project. The movie was in pre-production and the studio realized the script wasn't ready and shut it down pretty late in the game. I came aboard to get the train back on the tracks which is always high pressure and very difficult to do. I handed in 40 pages and they re-greenlit the movie and we're casting and location scouting now. I'm on draft two currently, working next to the director and bringing his vision into it.

Cinematical: Is that an awkward process at all -- being brought in to re-write a fellow writer? Do you ever run into hurt feelings or bruised egos? I guess the $1.7 million makes the pill easier to swallow.

AFG: Well, I come from the TV world, writing on sitcoms and that's very collaborative. You have to sit in the room and watch 10 other writers tear apart your script right in front of you. That bruises your ego. As for movies, more often than not a writer can only go so far and it's your job to bat clean up. It's never a great feeling to have your screenplay rewritten, but hopefully you've moved onto your next project, so it doesn't sting so much. And believe me, that $1.7 payday is like winning the lottery. I hope I can sell a spec one day. I've had little luck in that department.