'Goonies' TV Series Will Follow Kids Creating A Shot-For-Shot Remake Of The '80s Adventure Film

Here's an idea that is sure to appeal to people in their late-30s/early-4os: A Goonies TV series! But wait, there's a catch. This isn't going to be a TV adaptation of the Richard Donner movie where a group of children screams for two full hours while dealing with skeletons. Oh, no. Instead, this show is about a teacher who helps her students create a shot-for-shot remake of The Goonies. And of course, lessons will be learned and friendships will be formed, and so on.

Look, I know lots of people my age love The Goonies. I'm not one of them. I sort of enjoyed the film when I was a kid, but have you watched this thing recently? Folks, it does not hold up. Sure, it has some fun Amblin-style thrills, but it's also kind of annoying. Richard Donner is a talented filmmaker, but he apparently had no idea how to direct children. As a result, The Goonies is just wall-to-wall scenes of these kid actors shouting over each other, to the point where it gets exhausting. But hey! Folks still love The Goonies, and now a new TV series wants to cash-in on that nostalgic fondness.

According to THR, Fox has ordered a pilot from The Bold Type's Sarah Watson with the following synopsis:

After failing to make it in New York and carrying a heavy secret with her, Stella Cooper returns to her distressed automotive hometown to substitute teach. She finds inspiration, hope and ultimately salvation when she agrees to help three students who are pursuing their filmmaking dreams by putting on an impossibly ambitious shot-for-shot remake of one of their favorite movies —The Goonies. Over the course of the season of the potential series, their passion will inspire a town in desperate need of hope in this love letter to the power of cinema, storytelling and dreams.

This isn't based on a true story, but there is some precedent in reality. The documentary Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made tells the tale of three childhood friends who spent about 25 years making a shot-for-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I can't help but think that someone saw that idea and thought: "We should do something like that, but how can we get around buying the rights to the story from these guys?" The solution: remaking a different Steven Spielberg-related film.

I don't want to be too harsh here, since the show hasn't even started filming yet. For all I know, it'll turn out to be pretty charming! But my knee-jerk reaction is to groan inwardly at our never-ending reliance on nostalgia. Can't we start creating new stuff instead? And then maybe one day that new stuff can be heralded as a classic? Just a thought.