Steven Spielberg’s Goonies 2 In The Works With Original Stars?
Actor Ke Huy Quan mentioned the possibility of Goonies 2 in his Golden Globe speech and hopes Spielberg will get on board.
For fans of the original Goonies movie, it was a real treat to see Ke Huy Quan(who played Data in the film) win a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in Everything Everywhere All At Once. And after he won the award, he entered the Globe’s press room and spoke about many things, including the possibility of filming Goonies 2 with the rest of the original cast. According to Yahoo, the star mentioned the possibility of a sequel before turning to Steven Spielberg and saying “I think that’s one question that all of us want to ask him,” and then lamented how there have been failed attempts to create a sequel (which he thought would have been his “career comeback”) for 30 years.
The idea of Goonies 2 being a potential career comeback for Quan must be bittersweet to say aloud. While he had a number of interesting roles after the success of both Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as well as the original Goonies, he didn’t achieve anything close to his original success with later roles and took a break from acting in 2002. He didn’t return until 2021, and it took him little time at all to become a Golden Globe winner for the 2022 film Everything Everywhere All At Once.
In other words, it took decades for his career comeback to happen, and that comeback likely would have happened far sooner if Goonies 2 had been made years ago. The original movie was directed by legendary director Richard Donner, and Donner was the biggest champion of creating a sequel, though he never did so because he never felt any of the scripts matched the quality of the original movie. Donner sadly passed away in 2021, with Quan saying that he and the original Goonies actors had lost the “captain of our ship.”
This is likely why Quan said that those who really want Goonies 2 to happen should be asking Steven Spielberg about it. The famous director developed the story for the first Goonies movie and it was produced by his company, Amblin Entertainment. And Sean Astin later claimed that Spielberg was involved with the film so much that he was basically a co-director alongside Richard Donner.
All things considered, Steven Spielberg seems like the most logical choice to direct Goonies 2, but it’s unclear whether the veteran director wants to return to the past when he is creating new acclaimed work such as The Fabelmans. Still, nobody can deny that the audience demand for sequels is greater than ever, with some of the biggest films of 2022 including Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water. And with Ghostbusters: Afterlife getting a sequel of its own, it’s fair to say that nostalgia for ‘80s content could make a new Goonies movie into a monster hit.
Realistically, though, Goonies 2 seems unlikely to happen. In addition to the lack of good scripts and no firm commitment from Spielberg, it’s unlikely that all of the original cast (including breakout stars Sean Astin and Thanos actor Josh Brolin) would even want to return. And with the death of both Richard Donner and John Daniel Matuszak, the actor who played Sloth, we think it’s best to leave One-Eyed Willie and his treasure back in the ‘80s where they belong.
