Disney’s reboot of The Rocketeer is once again close to liftoff. David Oyelowo (Selma, Star Wars Rebels) and his wife, actress and producer Jessica Oyelowo, are set to produce The Return of the Rocketeer through their company Yoruba Saxon Productions. According to The Hollywood Reporter, David Oyelowo may also star in the film, which will focus on a retired Tuskegee airman who becomes the Rocketeer.
The original Rocketeer (pictured above), released in 1991, is either a cult hit or one of those movies deeply beloved from everyone’s childhood, depending on who you’re talking to. (Presumably it can be both.) The film, based on the comics by Dave Stevens, is about a stunt pilot (played by Bill Campbell) who finds a jet pack that lets him fly around like a superhero; naturally, since it’s set in the ’30s, there are Nazis (led by Timothy Dalton) who would like to get their hands on the thing.
In May, the Oyelowos signed a first-look deal with Disney, and this is the first project to come of that. They will produce the reboot along with Brigham Taylor and Blake Griffin, and Ryan Kalil’s Mortal Media is on board in the role of executive producer. Taylor, Griffin, and Kalil were all involved with an earlier attempt to get a Rocketeer sequel or reboot off the ground. That film was said to center on “a young African–American female pilot, who takes up the mantle of Rocketeer in an attempt to stop an ambitious and corrupt rocket scientist from stealing jet-pack technology in what could prove to be a turning point in the Cold War.”
It sounds as if the plot has changed quite a bit, and there’s a different writer on board as well: Edward Ricourt (Now You See Me, Wayward Pines) is writing the screenplay for The Return of the Rocketeer.
Apart from the possibility of Oyelowo playing the lead, no casting has been announced, and a release date is a long way off. But when the movie lands, it’ll be on Disney+.
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I was always disappointed this didn’t get a sequel with the original cast. But the idea of a new version tying it into the Tuskeegee Airmen is intriguing.
I loved the original Rocketeer. I’m glad somebody is attempting to bring it back. I wish someone would do the same for the Shadow.
#2: Be careful what you wish for. There’s a new Shadow novel just out from the James Patterson combine (credited to Patterson and Brian Sitts). I was initially curious enough to skim a chapter or two in the supermarket, but based on that glance the re-invention is not particularly promising. I don’t inherently object to the cryogenic time-shift; there are a couple of decent Sherlock Holmes TV films that do just that with Holmes, then partner him with a female Watson. Here, though, the original Shadow is sharing protagonist duties with a young Latinx heroine in a peculiar dystopian New York, and neither the tone nor the execution seem to have much to do with the original franchise.
Which is to say: if you didn’t like the Alec Baldwin movie because it took too many liberties, you definitely won’t approve of the new book. And if you did like the Baldwin movie, you’re also unlikely to approve of the new book because it makes the Baldwin movie look positively stodgy with respect to Shadowy tradition.
(For the record, I did like the Baldwin movie. I thought it caught the spirit of the franchise fairly well, and nowadays it serves as proof that Baldwin can, in fact, act when given the chance. The difference between his performance in that film and his more current public persona, as illustrated by his antics on Match Game, is amazing to see.)
Also for the record, I definitely liked the original Rocketeer movie, would definitely have seen an original-cast sequel…and am absolutely on board for a new story with a Tuskegee tie-in.
I’m looking forward to this coming to fruition. Too much time has passed for a direct sequel, and this sounds like a good way to revisit the story.
I wonder when it will be set. Since the 45-year-old David Oyelowo is a contender to play a retired Tuskegee Airman, and since they were active from 1940-48, I’d guess this could be set as late as 1968-70 — which would line up perfectly with the 30 years since the original film (set in 1938) came out, and would allow for the possibility of the original cast members reprising their roles.
@3/JCB: My father had a collection of the reel-to-reel tapes of the Shadow radio program when I was kid. That was my first introduction to the character. I thought Baldwin was fantastic as the Shadow/Cranston. I thought the movie was well acted, well written and well produced. I was shocked that it had not done better at the box office. What a great TV show the Shadow would make! But alas, nowadays, kids would accuse the Shadow character of ripping off Batman. When actually, it’s vice versa.
Hmm, let’s not forget there’s another famous nazi-punching adventurer rumored to be returning in the late 60s (also owned by the Disney blob). Could that mean a Rocketeer crossover cameo is coming our way?
@6: Oooooooooh that era would be awesome. Maybe some Century series aircraft design influence, crazy overimagined analog machinery, punch card computers on steroids, alternate history space race, irresponsible nuclear testing……so many possibilities!
9) Robert Lawrence, Chappie James, Benjamin Davis Jr., etc. Truth is better than fiction.
I love the idea I saw elsewhere on the web having the Rocketeer helmet with a red fin, as in a “red tail” to honor the Tuskegee Airmen.
Cool stuff. I hope this movie gets made. And fingers crossed we get to see the ole hood ornament zooming around New York City skyscrapers like in one of the comic adventures. With some real wild over-the-shoulder POV stuff. Like a bat out of hell!