For some reason it seems Hollywood has gone a bit farther into the deep end of lameness in the last couple days than it normally does. First, we brought you news of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie being made without Joss Whedon or any of the original characters. Now comes word, via The Hollywood Reporter, that Disney is planning a remake of one of the best coming of age stories involving a young boy who learns to fly a spaceship. I’m talking about, of course, Flight of the Navigator.
In case you’re not familiar (and my description didn’t jog your memory) the original 1986 film concerned a 12-year-old who is abducted by an alien spacecraft in 1978 and reappears eight years later, still the same age but with no memory of what happened. NASA scientists discover a connection between the boy and a crashed spacecraft and, in true evil scientist fashion, try to exploit him. Fortunately, the boy ultimately escapes with the ship and attempts to reunite with his family.
Brad Copeland is writing the remake, which is being produced by Mandeville partners David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman — who have a few films coming up including The Proposal, with Ryan reynolds and Sandra Bullock and The Surrogates with Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell. They’re also in pre-production on The Fighter, a boxing film directed by David O. Russell and starring Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg.
Mmmm, Christian Bale and David O. Russell. That should be an interesting set. No word yet on a script, cast or a release date for the Flight of the Navigator remake. But when there is, we’ll bring it to you — even if we don’t like the idea of a remake.
