'Blockers' Director Kay Cannon to Helm "'Goonies' for Adults" Comedy at Lionsgate

Seth Rogen’s Point Grey and Will Ferrell’s Gary Sanchez have teamed up to produce ‘79ers’ for the studio.

Kay Cannon, who directed Blockers and wrote the Pitch Perfect movies, has come aboard to direct the comedy 79ers, Lionsgate announced Thursday.

Point Grey, the production banner run by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and Will Ferrell’s Gary Sanchez Productions have teamed up to produce the feature project, which centers on a group of estranged friends who are forced back together after 20 years to complete a treasure hunt they attempted as misfit teens but never completed.

If that sounds like a grown-up version of The Goonies, the 1980s classic about misfit teens on a treasure hunt, it’s intentional.

“Kay is wonderful at capturing characters in situational conflict and is the perfect choice for this re-engineered coming of age comedy. I hope when we are finished with this film it feels like Goonies for adults,” said Nathan Kahane, president of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, in a statement.

He added, “I have loved this script ever since I first read it. It has such great roles for a group of actors as our estranged friends have the wisdom and life experience of 30 year olds but the baggage of their teen years that they have to overcome as they reunite for a legendary treasure hunt that has eluded them for decades.”

Dylan Meyer has been hired to work on the screenplay originally written by Ben Schwartz.

Matthew Janzen and Brady Fujikawa will oversee development for Lionsgate. Josh Fagen is overseeing the project for Point Grey. Kevin Messick will oversee the project on behalf of Gary Sanchez.

Point Grey produced Blockers, which was Cannon’s directorial debut. The two earlier this week set up La Fresa, an action comedy series at Amazon that Cannon will direct, co-write and showrun.

Sanchez was behind the Daddy’s Home movies and last produced Vice and Holmes and Watson.

Cannon, who is also the creator and showrunner of Netflix series Girlboss, is repped by WME.