Some of you may have never heard or seen of the Goonies (1985). It was an extraordinary adventure and comedy film directed by Richard Donner with help from Steven Spielberg. “The Goonies Are Back” may be a possible title for a sequel. To fully understand why the movie needs a sequel, you have to watch it, but if you need a recap, here it is.
*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***
The movie begins with a group of neighborhood boys, the goonies, trying to save their friend’s house from foreclosure. They look in the attic for things to sell and stumble across a treasure map for One-Eyed Willy’s treasure. They follow the map to an old dinner and went inside. They found that the local crime family was running it but they decided to keep following the clues that led them underground. One of the goonies was captured by the crime family for interrogation and he found out that they wanted the treasure too. Once the crime family discovered the goonies were already on their way to the treasure, the family rushed after. Along the goonies path there were multiple booby traps that they had negotiate. After they passed all of the traps and evaded the crime family, they came across a pirate ship where they found One Eyed Willy’s corpse. They gathered as much treasure as they could carry and began to leave. The notorious crime family stopped them but they were able to make it out with the help of the police. Unfortunately, this summary does not do the movie justice as I missed the great comedic sections.
The sequel to this movie would have to be set years later after they found the treasure because all of the actors are 35 years older than they were in the making of this movie. It would be great to see the actors on screen again, on another adventure. They could bring in new young actors and plot the movie with them as the original actor’s kids. If this were the case, it would still be nice to have the original characters back on screen. Some movies of this type have been seen as failures, but now they know what not to do.
Compared to today, the movie had a very low budget, coming in around $20 million ($45 million today). Also, the blockbusters in 1985 did not ‘bust’ as much as they do today. It only costed around $3.50 to go to the movies in 1985, when today, it costs around $14 to see a movie. With this in mind, The Goonies made $64 million ($150 million today). Overall, this is a strong profit for a movie made in 1985, and it would most likely make more today with its audience. The movie did not really make much money outside the United States, and I think a sequel can be marketed to other nations as it does not have to completely rely on the sequel.
A sequel should be done. It may be hard to make right, but I think there is definitely room for success. I’m sure Spielberg’s and Donner’s talents can be used in other movies, but the goonies would be a nice retirement/flashback movie for them.
What movie do you think deserves a sequel?
I agree with you this week. Other than being funny, I fell like there is currently a market for nostalgic sequels. We see this especially in TV, with shows like Fuller House and Cobra Kai marketed to the older generation who loved the original source material. This has been exasperated by COVID, with parents having more time to watch movies form their childhood with their kids.
I have heard of, but never watched The Goonies. After reading through the recap, I will definitely have to watch it to really get the full experience. I also think having the original actors would be extremly beneficial for a sequel. When the original cast is there, it makes the whole experience so much better. Nice post!
As soon as I saw that your blog post was about The Goonies, I instantly thought that the second movie could be revolved around their kids! I definitely have to agree with you that this movie deserves a sequel because it would be entertaining for the younger kids but also appeal to the older generations, seeing that they probably grew up watching, or at least, knowing the original!
I have never seen the Goonies but have heard plenty about it. The plot of the Goonies reminds me of another young group of kids getting up to shenanigans, the Sandlot. The Sandlot was a very influential and adored movie at the time of its release and it got a sequel, the Sandlot 2, less than 10 years after the original. Since the Goonies were arguably more widely renowned than the Sandlot, it makes perfect sense to argue for a sequel, although I would have no idea what it would be about. Great Post!