Seqeuels, reboots, reimaginings – whatever form they take, following on from previous success stories is big business now. As if to give the previous senrence credence, it has been announced that Joe Johnston’s cult 1991 sci-fi actioner The Rocketeer is getting the sequel that to be honest we’d all given up on expecting to happen.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney has hired screenwriters Max Winkler (Ceremony) and Matt Spicer (It’s Not You It’s Me) to pen the script, which is described as a “sequel-reboot” with a “modern-day twist”. Additionally, it will have a black female lead, although there have been no potential candidates for the role name-dropped yet.
Refreshingly, this take will not dispense entirely with the original, with the following plot synopsis making that clear:
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.
All in all, it’s a positive sign. The Rocketeer is one of those films that seem to get better with time due to its timeless quality and earnest themes. Moreover, the effects themselves haven’t actually aged too badly – although we’re expecting a slightly more advanced rocketpack this time round, especially since the last one spectacularly blew up at the end.
Bringing back any original cast members might be tricky onsidering the 25-year+ time difference between the filming times of the two films, but we’re expecting plenty of homages at the very least. We’re not asking for much, surely?
The Rocketeer is available to buy on DVD and Blu-ray now. For all the latest movie news, pick up the new issue of SciFiNow.
