Disney could soon be blasting off again with a new take on The Rocketeer.
The studio is in the very early stages of developing a reboot of the 1991 period adventure movie, EW has learned.
Max Winkler and Matthew Spicer are writing the project, which is tentatively titled The Rocketeers and being eyed as a sequel-reboot.
The new story takes place six years after the original Rocketeer, Cliff Secord, vanished while fighting Nazis. In his absence, an unlikely new hero emerges: a young, black female pilot, who takes up the mantle of Rocketeer in hopes of stopping an ambitious and corrupt rocket scientist from stealing jetpack technology in what could prove to be a turning point in the Cold War.
The original Rocketeer, based on the 1980s comic by Dave Stevens, starred Billy Campbell as Cliff, a young pilot who stumbles upon a prototype jetpack that allows him to become a high-flying hero who faces off against Nazis, along with crossing paths with Howard Hughes and the FBI. The film was a box office disappointment at the time it was released, grossing just $46.7 million in North America, and placing fourth in its opening weekend. But The Hollywood Reporter — which was first to report plans of the prospective reboot — notes The Rocketeer later found a dedicated following.
Brigham Taylor (The Jungle Book) is producing the new Rocketeersfilm, with Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers and Ryan Kalil of the Carolina Panthers also on board as producers. Tendo Nagenda and Chaz Salembier are overseeing the project for Disney.