DVDizzy Forum

Now that Disney’s troubled movie studio is under new management, our spies tells us that, curiously, one of the first properties to be developed for a feature film is a reboot of 1991’s thirties-set adventure film, The Rocketeer.

We say ‘curiously’ because while the property was actually a flop at the time, its similarity to the current Disney-Marvel cash cow Iron Man is more than a little striking: In it, a racing pilot named Cliff Secord (Billy Campbell) discovers a rocket-pack prototype in his stunt plane, hidden there by the gangsters who stole it from Howard Hughes; Secord tries it out, and, like Tony Stark, quickly discovers that a) flying without a plane is SO cool, and b) you gotta fight the bad guys (including Timothy Dalton, who two years prior had starred as James Bond for the second time) and save the girl (a luminous Jennifer Connelly).

Now that Disney’s troubled movie studio is under new management.

Walt Disney Studios is developing a reboot of the 1991 action-adventure movie, hiring Max Winkler and Matt Spicer to pen the script, which is being titled The Rocketeers.

The project, in the early development stages, is considered a sequel-reboot and, in a modern-day twist, will be headlined by a black female character.

Brigham Taylor, who produced The Jungle Book with Jon Favreau, is producing along with Blake Griffin of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers and Ryan Kalil of the NFL's Carolina Panthers. Griffin and Kalil are partners in a new venture called Mortal Media and approached Taylor with the idea for the reboot.

The new take keeps the story in a period setting and offers a fresh view on the characters. 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.

In 2016, Max Winkler and Matt Spicer (Magic Camp) were tapped to pen the script for the film titled The Rocketeers. Well, the film is still in active development for Disney+ with a brand new writer in Azia Squire (Boomerang) who penned the latest draft of the script. Sadly, the film doesn’t have a director yet, however, JD Dillard who directed the action/sci-fi/drama Sleight has put his name in the ring. Brigham Taylor (Lady and the Tramp) will produce the project alongside Noah Weinstein (Inner Demons), and sports superstars Blake Griffin (Detroit Pistons) and Ryan Kalil (New York Jets).

The Rocketeers is looking to cast an African-American female lead ages 18-25, as well as a Russian female villain. Here is a quick synopsis for the film: "Centered around a young African-American female pilot who tries to stop an evil rocket scientist from stealing jetpack technology during a pivotal moment in the Cold War."