Ke Huy Quan has revealed he would be open to reprising his The Goonies character, Data. Whilst the Everything Everywhere All at Once actor could not confirm a second movie would be happening, he spoke about numerous scripts having been written for a possible sequel.
During an interview at the Golden Globes on Tuesday (as first reported by Deadline), Quan revealed it has been a long-held dream to reprise his The Goonies role. “I really don’t know if there will be a Goonies 2,” Quan said at the awards ceremony, where he won Best Supporting Actor in a Musical or Comedy, “but I’m open to revisiting the character.” In the original film, which was released in 1985, Quan played James Bond fanatic and amateur gadget creator Richard ‘Data’ Wang. During the interview, Quan admitted that he felt reprising the role would set his career as an actor back on track. “I wished [a sequel] had come to pass when I was young. I thought I would need it to make a career comeback.”
Quan revealed that a sequel to the '80s hit has been in the works for over three decades, but a number of problems has seen it placed on the back burner. “For the last thirty-something years we tried to do Goonies 2,” Quan said, before admitting a sequel would not prove as successful as The Goonies. “We had numerous scripts, but not one script that felt that it could live up to the original.” Furthermore, the actor admitted the death of the original film’s director, Richard Donner, whom he described as the “captain of [their] ship” meant a sequel would not feel right. In June, it was announced a spin-off of the film, Our Time, would be going ahead on Disney+, with Gail Berman as producer.
Prior to The Goonies, Quan starred opposite Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) as pickpocket turned bodyguard, Short Round. Due to a lack of opportunity in the film industry, Quan appeared in a few television series, including Together We Stand as Sam and Head of the Class as Jasper Kwong, where he was credited as Jonathon Quan. Now, he is set to star in the second season of the Disney+ series Loki, and will star in The Electric State alongside Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt after winning his first acting award for Everything Everywhere.
Directed by the late Donner and produced by Steven Spielberg, The Goonies tells the story of a group of misfit teenagers living in the seaside town of Astoria, Oregon, known as the ‘Goon Docks.’ The group discovers a treasure map belonging to a seventeenth-century pirate, One-Eyed Willy, which they hope to use to save their homes from foreclosure. Unfortunately, a family of criminals who want the treasure for themselves soon give chase. Alongside Quan, the film stars Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton, Anne Ramsey, Robert Davi, Joe Pantoliano, and John Matuszak.
For a bit of nostalgia, check out the official trailer for The Goonies below: