Drama About ‘The Goonies’ Re-Enactment From Sarah Watson, SideCar & Movie’s Team Gets Fox Pilot Order

Nellie Andreeva
·3 min read

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Fox has given a pilot order to an untitled drama about students remaking the 1985 movie The Goonies. The project comes from The Bold Type creator Sarah Watson and the Gail Berman-run SideCar, with the involvement of the film’s director-producer Richard Donner, production company, Steven Spielberg’s Amblin, and studio Warner Bros.

The untitled film re-enactment drama stems from the direct talent/script deal Fox Entertainment signed with Watson — and other writers — earlier this season. Watson was paired with Berman and her Fox-owned production company SideCar to develop the concept. The project was introduced to Amblin, Donner and his wife/producing partner Lauren Shuler Donner, and Warner Bros, who all came on board, clearing the path for the script to get a pilot order. Superbad helmer Greg Mottola has been tapped to direct.

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In the untitled project, written by Watson, 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 the student’s favorite movies… The Goonies. Over the course of the season, their passion will inspire a town in desperate need of hope in this love letter to the power of cinema, storytelling and dreams.

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Watson, Mottola, Berman, Lauren Shuler Donner and Richard Donner executive produce with Amblin TV’s Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank. The pilot is a co-production among Warner Bros Television, SideCar Content Accelerator and Amblin TV.

Last month, Fox’s President of Entertainment Michael Thorn told Deadline that Watson was working on a project that the network was “very excited about,” declining to give further details as deals for the film re-enactment drama were still being worked out.

Watson created Freeform’s fashion mag dramedy series The Bold Type, which is based on the life of Hearst chief content officer and former Cosmopolitan magazine editor-in-chief Joanna Coles. Previously, Watson was a writer and executive producer on the praised NBC drama Parenthood, and her debut novel, Most Likely, will be published by Poppy/Little Brown this year as part of a two-book deal.

Written by Chris Columbus based on a story by Spielberg and directed by Richard Donner, The Goonies (released as Steven Spielberg Presents The Goonies) is an adventure comedy film about a group of kids from the “Goon Docks” neighborhood of Astoria, OR, who, while trying to save their homes from foreclosure, find a treasure map and go on an adventure, trying to find a famous pirate’s long-lost fortune. The movie, starring Sean Astin and Josh Brolin, was a box office hit, grossing $124 million on a $19 million budget.

Here is a trailer:

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