THE ROCKETEER to Become THE ROCKETEERS, With Big Changes in Store
Disney is developing a reboot of The Rocketeer, to be headlined by a young African-American woman.
Based on the graphic novel by Dave Stevens, the 1991 film version starred Bill Campbell as Cliff Secord, a pilot who comes into possession of an experimental jet pack in 1938 Los Angeles. Directed by Joe Johnston, the adventure was spirited and wholesome, featuring Jennifer Connelly as an aspiring actress (changed from her job as a nude, Betty Page-ish model in the source material), Alan Arkin as Cliff's mechanic mentor, and Timothy Dalton as Neville Sinclair, a swashbuckling actor (like Errol Flynn) who turns out to be a Nazi spy.
The movie was affectionately nostalgic, wonderfully propulsive, included a variety of splendid old-fashioned action, and sadly, proved to be a disappointment at the box office. Thus, thoughts of sequels never materialized. Dave Stevens, who'd been quite involved in the production, died in 2008. Plans to reboot the movie in 2012 did not materialize.
Until now, that is. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Walt Disney Studios has hired Max Winkler (son of Henry Winkler) and Matt Spicer to write the screenplay for a movie they're calling The Rocketeers. Here's the synopsis, per THR:
Set six years after the original Rocketeer and after Secord has vanished while fighting the Nazis, an unlikely new hero emerges: 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.
The original was set in 1938, which would mean the reboot starts in 1944. The seeds of the Cold War were sown in 1945, so the timing is not exactly clear.
That's just history, though (*sarcastic eye roll* intended). The premise makes the reboot sound like a remake, with a rocket scientist replacing the actor/Nazi spy. The idea of recasting Cliff Secord (in essence) with a young African-American woman sounds very good, in that it makes the reboot sound contemporary, even though it will still have a period setting.
It also has a historical parallel in the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American military pilots during World War II. They faced severe discrimination, both in civilian and military life. (George Lucas produced Red Tails about the subject in 2012.) If the reboot is set in Los Angeles, it would play out against a very provocative background; the city was divided by racial boundaries during that time.
Disney, as a studio, is not known for courting controversial subject matter. Instead, they prefer inspirational, feel-good movies. Based on the premise, The Rocketeers could certainly fit into their area of expertise, and perhaps Winkler and Spicer will weave a good adventure story that also honors the fight by African-American women against the forces of discrimination.
