According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney will remake the 1986 sci-fi adventure film "Flight of the Navigator" with Bryce Dallas Howard as the director.
The original film features a 12-year old boy named David (Joey Cramer) who goes missing in 1978 and returns in 1986. He hasn't changed over the eight years, and authorities discover that an alien spacecraft, actually a Trimaxion droneship, is located nearby.
It's all about Einstein’s theory of special relativity. The movie shows that David flew to Phaelon in 4.4 hours, but that he returned eight years later on Earth. This suggests that David was traveling at a slower speed than the speed of light (186,282 miles per seconds).
David is attracted to the spacecraft because they are both kept in a secret NASA facility. He also reunites with Max, who is a computer/robot spacecraft pilot. Paul Reubens, best known for his role in "Pee Wee's Big Adventure", starred as Max. Veronica Cartwright ("Alien," and "The Right Stuff") starred alongside Howard Hesseman. Howard Hesseman was a regular on almost every TV and movie of the mid-80s.
View of the spaceship Flight of the Navigator. (Image credit: Disney)
Dallas Howard is perhaps better known for her work in front of the camera than she is behind it. She played Mrs Conner in "Terminator Salavation," someone-or-others in the dreadful and sequel "Jurassic World", but a standout performance in the "Black Mirror" episode, "Nosedive". She is also following a career behind-the-camera like her father Ron Howard. She directed the episodes of "The Mandalorian", the weakest episode in the first season of "Sanctuary," and the strongest episode of the second season, "The Heiress", (S02 and E03). It seems that her talents are improving.
In 2009, Disney attempted to reimagine the title. At one point, Colin Trevorrow was working on the script and Derek Connolly was also involved. The House of Mouse lost the rights to the movie to Lionsgate during the 2010s. That studio attempted to create a version with Joe Henderson (Lucifer) but it didn't work out and the property is now back at Disney.
Lisa Downs made the superb documentary "Life After The Navigator", which is a great companion piece to the original film. She also produced the equally impressive documentary "Life After Flash." Downs interviews the cast members and talks about their experience making the film. There are often surprising twists and stories.
This news follows the recent Disney announcement of "The Rocketeer", a fan favorite. Taika Waititi’s animated Flash Gordon film will reportedly be live-action now. We still hope for Buck Rogers, as every studio continues to chase sci-fi IP. It will continue to be a great entertainment genre, long may it continue.
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