Gail Berman, the producer for The Goonies-based series Our Time, has revealed plot details for the upcoming TV show. In 1985, legendary filmmaker Richard Donner delivered the hit adventure film, directed from a story by Steven Spielberg. Focusing on a group of kids living in the Oregonian "Goon Docks" neighborhood, the movie starred Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Martha Plimpton, Ke Huy Quan, Kerri Green, and Jeff Cohen as the core gang. The children, who call themselves "The Goonies," set out to discover the lost riches of pirate One-Eyed Willy after coming across his secret treasure map. The Goonies was a hit both commercially and critically, and over the years it has transformed into a cult classic that is still beloved today.
Ever since The Goonies released, there have been talks of a follow-up movie. However, development on a sequel constantly hit a roadblock. At first, the cast wasn't interested in returning for The Goonies 2. Later, Spielberg also had trouble coming up with a Goonies sequel story that held water. Sadly, Donner passed away in 2021, leaving the prospect of a sequel in jeopardy. Meanwhile, there were also attempts to get a Goonies TV spinoff off the ground. Initially, Fox passed on a pilot that was written by The Bold Type creator Sarah Watson, deeming it "too young" for its audiences. In December 2021, however, Disney+ stepped in and gave the show a new lease of life.
Now, producer Berman has shared a handful of plot details about Our Time during a conversation with Variety. As the EP explains, The Goonies-inspired show will take place in a small town, where the story of a shot-by-shot remake of The Goonies will be narrated from a Friday Nights Lights perspective. Berman conceived this idea after he saw a group of boys making a similar movie for Raiders of the Lost Ark, and so he set out to make a TV series that includes an in-universe frame-by-frame recreation of The Goonies. Read what Berman said below.
"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 Plus."
Berman is developing The Goonies TV show, Our Time, as a joint venture between him, Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and Donner's wife, Lauren Shuler Donner, who also serves as an EP. Berman acknowledges Warner Bros.'s support for the new series, as the studio giant let go of the rights to The Goonies, enabling the reenactment TV show to happen at Disney+. Of course, the new show is one of the many proposed expansions of Donner's original franchise. At one point there were plans to reboot The Goonies with an animated show, as well as through a musical adaptation. However, those ideas ultimately fell through, although the new Disney+ TV show continues to make solid headway.
Right now, Berman has only teased some plot specifics for Our Time, and there is still a lot of development needed before viewers know what the new The Goonies show looks like. Telling the show from a Friday Nights Lights standpoint is an interesting strategy, as it emphasizes that the spinoff will retain the core essence of the original's small-town backdrop, and continue to highlight the many issues faced living in a close-knit community. Without Donner, it would have been impossible to revive the original's magic through a The Goonies sequel, so a TV show fictionalizing its making seems an ingenious alternative. Our Time will seemingly honor the source material while also reintroducing a beloved property to a new generation through an updated take. With the story now sorted out, The Goonies show will soon go into production and begin recasting the iconic adventurers.
Source: Variety