Nostalgia is always a draw at the box office, and while the upcoming 2025 movie schedule has its fair share of remakes and reimagined franchises, it’s nothing compared to what Warner Bros. Discovery is cooking up. After years of teases, it’s looking like serious efforts are being put in to finally give us The Goonies 2 and Gremlins 3.
It’s exciting for many people, including The Goonies‘ cast, who has waited to see this happen for decades. As thrilled as I am, and I’m sure many others are, to potentially see both franchises return to the big screen, I do hope that producers and creatives remember one specific thing when putting the movies together.
The Goonies And Gremlilns Were Made For Children, And They Should Stay That Way
A lot of the reason movies like The Goonies and Gremlins still get streamed is because there’s a generation of adults who still want to watch them and maybe even show it to their children. I showed the first Gremlins to my daughter, and now she considers it one of the best Christmas movies out there. That said, there are plenty of children in the world right now who have no clue about either franchise, but that doesn’t mean the movies need to shy away from catering to them.
Creatives who worked on Gremlins: The Wild Batch seem to agree, as the animated series tells the story of Gizmo before he was shipped over to the United States. While they remain eager to do more projects with the franchise, the latest series, at its core, was an adventure geared mainly to children that adults could also appreciate. For those who haven’t had a chance to check it out, I highly suggest doing so because it’s pretty great.
While we don’t have another Goonies project to make a case for, I’d point to Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, which is, for all intents and purposes, a sci-fi version of the beloved movie. It’s a series made with children in mind, and can be used to inform them about other things they may check out after. I know I loved the nod to the controversial holiday special, and while I’m not sure The Goonies has anything similar to that, at least kids may check out the original movie after watching!
Children’s Movies Have Changed A Lot Since The ’80s
I’m sure other parents have noticed this when trying to share their beloved childhood films with their children, but there’s a lot of stuff that was allowed in those movies that we would not show our children. The older generation would argue it’s because kids were tougher, but I’m not exactly sure what about seeing a Gremlin get stabbed to death with a kitchen knife makes someone tough.
It’s messed up and makes it hard to show these movies to our kids, or you forget about that scene and they have nightmares for weeks. Not that I would know anything about that. I didn’t show my child Gremlins without rewatching it first, and I also didn’t make the same mistake with The NeverEnding Story and that wild scene with the horse.
Part of the appeal of Gremlins 3 and The Goonies 2 is that there’s an expectation that it will live up to the quality and feel of the previous movies, but be revamped for a more modern audience. Whether that means including characters that better represent the times we live in, or just imagining what it would look like if the Goonies had smartphones while searching for treasure.
I’m well aware there’s a community of older people who will read that, sigh and roll their eyes. After all, it’s “their” franchise that’s being bastardized with change and catering to a new generation rather than just making them something new to enjoy. To those people, I can only say that these franchises were made for children and profit off of children. Franchises that shy away from catering to them tend to be forgotten, so if you want more of these movies, that’s the compromise. If you’d sooner pretend only the old movies exist and not the new stuff, it’s your right to do so.
Can These Movies Stick The Landing In Servicing Fans And Bringing In A New Audience?
There’s a famous saying that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. I think this applies to projects like The Goonies 2 and Gremlins 3, and in many ways, I think it’s more challenging to make a successful sequel decades later than an entirely new movie. Neither franchise is as prevalent as the upcoming Marvel movies, where audiences are conditioned to show up and see the latest adventure.
It’s been 35 years since The Gremlins 2: The New Batch and 40 years since the release of The Goonies. Sure, there are still fans of both of these franchises around the world, but it’s more than fair to say they’ve both slipped out of the mainstream consciousness. Will everyone who grew up with those films feel the need to buy a ticket to see it should these projects get far enough in development to make it to theaters?
I guess there are some at Warner Bros. Discovery who believe there’s an appetite for it, but ultimately, it will be on the public to decide. I know I have at least one kid who will be in theaters on opening night for Gremlins 3, and maybe once the news feels more real, there will be parents looking to show their kids the previous movies as well. I would recommend rewatching them before bringing the kids in, of course, but again, I wouldn’t know anything about that.
If you’re looking to watch The Gremlins or The Goonies, they’re both available for purchase on Prime Video right now. That said, I’m sure if the news about these two is going to create some interest in the movies, so I wouldn’t be surprised if either pop up on streaming in the near future.
