New Details For The Upcoming GOONIES-Inspired Series OUR TIME
Earlier this year it was announced that Disney+ was producing a new series inspired by the classic 80s film The Goonies titled Our Time. The story centers on a teacher who helps her students recreate the Richard Donner-directed movie The Goonies shot for shot.
The series is being produced by Gail Berman and in a recent interview, she shared some new information about the project and how the concept was inspired by a movie pitch based on the true story of a group of young boys who set out on a journey to create a shot-for-shot remake Lucasfilm's Raiders of the Lost Ark. Berman told Variety:
"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?"
Warner Bros. loved the idea and signed off on the crew using the rights to the film. The producers brought in Sarah Watson to create and develop the series. Berman went on to offer some additional details comparing the series to Friday Night Lights:
"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. They said yes, obviously, because of Mr. Spielberg and the Donners. We're now doing this for Disney Plus."
When the project was initially announced, Clancy Collins White, exec VP and head of development said:
"Sarah worked nonstop to deliver this incredible script, we had our table read, and then the world shut down for COVID. So we came back many months later and finished the beautiful pilot, and it was an incredible cast, but unfortunately a little bit too young for Fox. And so we immediately swung into high gear and hit the town with it. We did not yet have anything in development at Disney Plus. It's been another example of being able to carve a pathway where there wasn't one by virtue of a great story, a great pilot, a great series. The deal has taken a while to make, but we're really excited to be moving forward."
I’m looking forward to this show. When I was a kid I used to go out and shoot my own films with my brothers, so this story is definitely the kind of thing I can relate to.