Jamie Benning brings us the latest episode of the Filmumentaries podcast and his chat with arguably the most famous writers of movie novelisations of the 1980’s with Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Goonies to his name, author James Kahn.

In this episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I talk with James Kahn, the novelist behind some of the most iconic movie novelizations of the 1980s, including Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Goonies, and Poltergeist. James shares how a chance encounter while working as an ER doctor in Santa Monica led him onto the set of ET: The Extra-Terrestrial, where he met Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg, an opportunity that set his writing career in motion. We discuss:

• How James went from emergency medicine to Hollywood writer
• His early break writing the Poltergeist novelization
• The creative freedom Spielberg gave him on Temple of Doom, The Goonies, and others
• Writing Return of the Jedi under intense secrecy — including how George Lucas gave him a decoy script where Luke kills the Emperor
• Inventing backstory details that became “canon” for decades, like Ben and Owen being brothers and hints about Anakin’s fall into the lava pits
• Giving Short Round his own chapter and exploring Mikey’s POV in The Goonies
• How his books helped fans relive these films long before home video
• Why a great novelization is about more than retelling a screenplay
• His recent memoir, A Jedi Memoir: A Double Life, weaving together stories from Hollywood and emergency medicineIf you grew up with these books, this one’s packed with insights, behind-the-scenes stories, and moments of movie history you probably didn’t know.