The synergistic team of Richard Donner, Stephen Spielberg and Chris Columbus created one of the greatest adolescent adventures of all time with 1985's The Goonies. Despite some steadfast insistence from actor Sean Astin that a long-overdue sequel was in the works and the gang reuniting (via Zoom) in 2020, Donner's death in 2021 would go on to make a revival near-impossible — that is, until producer Gail Berman found herself in cahoots with Disney+.
Tentatively titled Our Time, a series inspired by the film is about to enter pre-production with the streamer. Instead of one of the many spinoff ideas that circulated over the years, it sounds like it's going to be what is essentially a shot-by-shot remake, framed by a story that weaves the legacy of Astoria's beloved Goonie gang and their exploits.
Berman, who also produced Baz Luhrmann's ELVIS, revealed the direction she's taking with the series in conversation with Variety, explaining:
This is a partnership between me, Amblin, and Lauren Shuler Donner. When I was at Paramount, there were these young boys doing this movie about Raiders of the Lost Ark, a shot-by-shot remake. It got some press at the time, and the studio was very upset about it. I thought it was an amazing idea, and it always stood in my head of — how can you take an idea like that and turn it into a TV series? ... We needed a terrific writer and great partners, so we brought the idea to Amblin and those guys loved it. Sarah Watson is our creator. The series is a story of a town and a family in the lens of Friday Night Lights, and within that they tell a story of a shot-by-shot remake of The Goonies. We had to go to Warner Bros., to Toby Emmerich, and ask if we could have rights [to The Goonies]. They said yes, obviously, because of Mr. Spielberg and the Donners. We're now doing this for Disney+.
While there's no timeline for the series' release or details about the cast, our long-awaited return to the Oregonian Goon Docks seems more likely than ever.
Tentatively titled Our Time, a series inspired by the film is about to enter pre-production with the streamer. Instead of one of the many spinoff ideas that circulated over the years, it sounds like it's going to be what is essentially a shot-by-shot remake, framed by a story that weaves the legacy of Astoria's beloved Goonie gang and their exploits.
Berman, who also produced Baz Luhrmann's ELVIS, revealed the direction she's taking with the series in conversation with Variety, explaining:
This is a partnership between me, Amblin, and Lauren Shuler Donner. When I was at Paramount, there were these young boys doing this movie about Raiders of the Lost Ark, a shot-by-shot remake. It got some press at the time, and the studio was very upset about it. I thought it was an amazing idea, and it always stood in my head of — how can you take an idea like that and turn it into a TV series? ... We needed a terrific writer and great partners, so we brought the idea to Amblin and those guys loved it. Sarah Watson is our creator. The series is a story of a town and a family in the lens of Friday Night Lights, and within that they tell a story of a shot-by-shot remake of The Goonies. We had to go to Warner Bros., to Toby Emmerich, and ask if we could have rights [to The Goonies]. They said yes, obviously, because of Mr. Spielberg and the Donners. We're now doing this for Disney+.
While there's no timeline for the series' release or details about the cast, our long-awaited return to the Oregonian Goon Docks seems more likely than ever.