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When a spec script is described as "a grown-up version of The Goonies" you'll either perk up immediately ... or groan because you really hated The Goonies. (You know who you are.)

Kent Alterman is hoping you're one of those who would still go hunting for buried treasure, because according to The Hollywood Reporter, he's just signed on to direct Treehouse Gang for Warner Bros. The grown-up adventure story was written by Role Models' Timothy Dowling, and centers on a group of six childhood friends who, in the spirit of their gold seeking youth, come back together for a treasure hunt. Naturally, they'll dig up a good dose of childhood nostalgia and old grudges along the road to recovering any buried treasure.

Alterman made his directorial debut with Semi-Pro, making a rare jump from a job as an executive producer overseeing big hits at New Line to becoming a full time director. The shift in focus was apparently partially the responsibility of Will Ferrell and a little film Alterman produced called Elf. The two struck up a friendship which resulted in Semi-Pro ... and I wouldn't be terribly surprised if Ferrell showed up somewhere in Gang.

We'll have to see where this goes, but a grown-up version of The Goonies sounds pretty damn appealing to me. Let's just hope that it doesn't stir up plans for an actual grown-up Goonies sequel, as my childhood memories can't take any more abuse.

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.