02-AUG-01:
Could it be true? The further adventures of Mikey, Mouth, Data, Brand, Stef and, this site's favorite, Andy? As far as rumored movies go, The Goonies 2 has been generating plenty of buzz on the internet lately and may be moving towards a fall 2001 start date and possible summer 2002 release.

Movie information site Aint It Cool News has been tracking The Goonies 2 rumors for over a year. That site was tipped off in October 2000 that there were two finished Goonie sequel scripts floating around Hollywood. One entitled Goonies: The Next Generation, according to the scooper, was awful and had the word "Pass" hand written across the top. The second, however, was given strong praise and was said to have the word "Consider…" printed at the top.

In May of this year another tipster e-mailed Aint It Cool News to recount a conversation with original Goonies director Richard Donner. This informant claims that Donner confirmed there was a Goonies sequel script and that the entire former cast would return along with "a new group of kids". The most recent scoop at Aint It Cool News features a picture of the original Goonies , now grown, and The Goonies director Richard Donner as they assembled to record the commentary track for the upcoming release of the film on DVD. Harry Knowles, AICN's creator and self-described "Head Geek" mentions in the July 25, 2001 update that Donner has "formally announced" that there is indeed a script and that they hope to begin filming later this year.

At a web site dedicated to all Goonies things, there is even more information along with the first fifteen pages of a Goonies 2 script. It is unclear whether this is the actual script that Donner is working with or simply a fan created fantasy. In this version Mikey now runs an antique shop and has gotten engaged, setting the stage for a Goonie reunion. This differs from the AICN script review where Mikey works as a Town Historian and stumbles across another treasure map prompting him to try and reunite the original gang.

Kerri Green's character, Andrea "Andy" Carmichael, looks to be returning in whatever script gets made. The script at thegoonies.com features Andy as single and working as a preschool teacher. According to the script she also seems to still have a crush on Brand which will undoubtedly lead to a romantic storyline for Kerri and Josh Brolin, who portrayed Brand in the original Goonies. Given that Green, along with the rest of the principal cast of the original film, met with director Donner at the DVD recording session, it seems more and more likely that a sequel is indeed on the horizon.

e-mail the author: calchem@theriver.com