While appearing at Wizard World St. Louis Comic Con this weekend, Astin spoke with me about the second season of his political radio talk show, Vox Populi Radio, which premieres May 1 following a grassroots publicity launch on April 15 (Tax Day) in front of the Los Angeles Federal Building. But after talking about his talk show, Astin did address the sequel to one of the most beloved movies to come out of the 1980s.
Are you going to be returning for a sequel to “The Goonies”?
I’ve known that, a year after the original film, Steven Spielberg and Dick [Donner] had wanted to make a sequel. I know they’ve developed lots of screenplays, and it’s been a rumor for a long time. But none of us are getting any younger so if they want to do it, they might as well do it sooner rather than later. I don’t know if they would ask me to be a part of it. Dick sort of said yesterday, with the TMZ reporters, that he hoped all the stars would come back. Everybody has a great affection for it. I posted an old picture of it today, this morning, on Facebook, and quoted Dick in it. It has already gotten like 100 thousand views in two hours. So when there’s that much of an appetite for something, I have maintained consistently it is an absolute certainty there will be a sequel. It may not be in my lifetime, but if Richard Donner, the world-class filmmaker, asserts that it’s happening, then it must be so.
If he asks you to come back, will you be there?
Uh… If, I mean, one thing that I’ve … Well, it would be great.
Would it be passing the torch or would we see you and Josh Brolin …
A lot of us have kids now! Our kids are way older than we were when we made the film, so I would think – and what I understand from what they’ve tried to do – is have it be about the next generation of Goonies. But then there’s other people who are our age that want to see where we are now. I think if it was clear how to do it, we would have made it a long time ago. I just cannot … I am so impressed -- in the full meaning, definition of that word, it impresses on me – that people by the millions are just so into that movie from 1985 that is a campy kids adventure film. It is like the most projected film in outdoor screens, I saw that statistic somewhere. When people put up a sheet and want to screen a movie, “The Goonies” is the first up in their queue. It is a really cool thing and I’m very grateful I was a part of it. If it gets made and they want me to be a part of it, I’m sure it will work out.
And maybe we’ll finally see the octopus?
I just hope that when the octopus makes its return, it’s the same technology -- that foam latex technology – and not CG technology. I just think that would be in the spirit of the thing. But whatever they do is good.
-Aaron Sagers