Goonies Never Say Die: 'The Goonies' Cast Reunited To Raise Over $100K For No Kid Hungry
Goonies never say kids will go hungry. The Goonies gang — including original cast members Josh Brolin, Sean Astin, Martha Plimpton, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Jonathan Ke Quan, Jeff Cohen, Joe Pantoliano, and Robert Davi — got back together this past weekend for a virtual fundraiser, including a live script reading, to benefit the charity No Kid Hungry. They ended up raising more than $100,000.
In the 35 years since The Goonies hit theaters, a few of the original cast members have become huge stars — Josh Brolin is an Oscar-nominated actor, Sean Astin is the star of at least two major genre franchises. But Josh Gad, with his Reunited Apart With Josh Gad series, managed to bring them all together (again) for a Goonies virtual reunion fundraiser. (The first being the April reunion with Gad that featured Brolin, Astin, Plimpton, Feldman, Green, Quan, Cohen, Davi, Pantoliano, Donner, Columbus, Spielberg and theme song singer Cyndi Lauper.)
The new fundraiser, hosted Saturday to benefit No Kid Hungry and its work feeding kids and families amid the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, featured the stars doing a script reading of the Richard Donner film, narrated by Cary Elwes.
The cast also participated in a Q&A segment, with Feldman remarking how the cast has felt like a family after the first reunion got them all back in touch, with the members emailing each other throughout the year. Zach Braff also showed up, for some reason, in various roles during the livestream, and chimed in to gush about Astin's "It's our time down here" monologue. And Brolin, perhaps the most famous of the original stars thanks to his work in movies like No Country for Old Men and Avengers: Endgame, added that he and the other cast members are most often remembered as Goonies.
The fundraiser was free to stream but encouraged donations, quickly reaching the initial goal of $100,000 during the script reading itself, and making the final push for $150,000 by the end.
In a statement announcing the reunion, Donner said the group was "honored" to have the opportunity to help No Kid Hungry.
"The same spirit of bravery, sacrifice, and camaraderie that the Goonies showed in our movie is what families all over the world are experiencing as we all face this pandemic," he said.
Tom Nelson, CEO of Share Our Strength, the organization behind the No Kid Hungry campaign, added: "With more students learning virtually than ever before and with record jobs and wages lost, an unprecedented number of kids are going hungry during this crisis. Amidst this increased need and an uncertain school year, kids need our support more than ever. We're grateful to the cast of The Goonies, Warner Bros., and Warner Media and those tuning in to the reunion special to help ensure kids have access to the food they need."
You can watch the entire live stream below.