First off, here is my Fine Whine: for an almost-retired guy, I’m as busy as I’ve been in years. I’ve been doing my writing coach/editor thing nonstop all through 2014; I’m about to begin a huge evaluation that will take me through much of April; and there is more work waiting. It pleases me to know that there are still many writers who are conscientious enough to care about the product they are putting out into the ether or wherever with their name on it. But as my (self-imposed) deadline for my weekly post finds me writing this in the wee hours, I’m determined to keep it short.

Yeah, short but…SWEET! Hey you guys! In case you haven’t heard, the Internet has been abuzz for days with news of a sequel for The Goonies, the 1985 cult classic that ranks among many folks’ favorite movies—and that includes me. The original film’s director, Richard Donner, now eighty-three, let slip the news this past weekend as he visited with fans and photographers in Beverly Hills. (See the brief interview here.) He is hopeful that most of the original cast will return. We’re talking, among others, Josh Brolin, Sean Astin, and Corey Feldman. Two favorites, Anne Ramsey (Mama Fratelli) and John Matuszak (Sloth) have long since passed away.

Only four years ago Donner had nixed the idea of a sequel. But a year later, Sean Astin—who played Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings and starred in one of my favorite baseball movies, The Final Season—swore there would be a sequel and vowed to bet his children on it.

“Hey you guys!”

Will the story continue with the same characters thirty years later? Or will they introduce a new gang of Goonies and have the originals make cameo appearances? I’m sure there are a thousand questions still to be answered. But one thing remains consistent, nearly thirty years later:

GOONIES NEVER SAY DIE!