Ke Huy Quan Says “The Goonies” Is Still ‘Loved by Generations’ Almost 40 Years Later: Fans 'Get So Emotional' (Exclusive)

‘The Goonies’ “means so much” to fans — and their children — says Ke Huy Quan

Ke Huy Quan doesn’t know anything about an official sequel to The Goonies. But he is always tickled by the idea when it comes up.

“It never fails,” he tells PEOPLE with a laugh. “Every few years, there's always a Goonies [sequel] rumor.”

The classic adventure film, from director Richard Donner, writer Chris Columbus and a story by Steven Spielberg, starred Quan, 54, alongside a cast of other young adventurers: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton and more.

Released by Warner Bros. on June 7, 1985, The Goonies “means so much” to generations of audiences, says Quan. “It's their childhood. It's one of the greatest adventures that you could possibly go on — finding a treasure map and going on this adventure with your best friends, pirate ships, water slides.”

And the Everything Everywhere All at Once Oscar winner knows from experience that the film has “been loved by not one generation, but generations.”

Related: Ke Huy Quan Shouts Out His 'Goonies' Costars After Oscars 2023 Win: 'Goonies Never Say Die'

Fans approach him constantly to “tell me how much they love our movie,” says Quan. “The movie will live on. Because the fans who grew up watching this movie, a lot of them are married and they have kids and they introduce the movie to their kids.”

He continues, “I've been approached over the years so many times, and when they talk about this movie, they get so emotional because it's a movie that bonds the parents' relationship and their kids together. When they get to share that beautiful experience of watching it for the first time, there's that connection between the parents and their kids. And I just love it.”

Of its coming anniversary, he adds, “I cannot believe it's almost been 40 years. It changed all of our lives.”

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On Thursday, Oct. 17, Brolin, 56, was answering questions onstage about his acting career at New York Comic Con when a video message from Quan and Cohen, 50, posited questions of their own: "What was your favorite memory from making The Goonies?" and "Who is your favorite Goonie?"

Brolin named seeing the giant pirate ship “Inferno” his favorite on-set memory. As for a favorite costar, he replied that they’re "all my favorites" — but gave a shout-out to Quan, since he "came back and won an Academy Award, man."

Related: Ke Huy Quan Becomes a 'Badass' Leading Man in Action-Packed Love Hurts Trailer (Exclusive)

Plimpton, 53, recently denied that a Goonies sequel is in the works, writing on Instagram, "People, there is no Goonies2 script, there is no one 'attached,' Spielberg is not directing, it's not real.”

She added in the post, “What IS real is CHECK YOUR REGISTRATION AND VOTE!!!!”

Quan next leads Love Hurts (in theaters Feb. 7, 2025), and will appear in Joe and Anthony Russo’s The Electric State (on Netflix March 14, 2025), voice a character in Zootopia 2 (in theaters Nov. 26, 2025) and star in action-thriller Fairytale in New York.