The Joe Johnston-directed movie, released in 1991, was appreciated by critics but not so much at the box office, making $46 million on a $35 million budget. Such was the case with The Rocketeer, which was based on an early '80s comic book, developed for years and then pitched to (and turned down by) the major studios until Disney agreed to pick it up for merchandising potential around the character of stunt pilot Cliff Secord, who uses his trusty jet pack to buzz around 1930s Los Angeles doing good deeds.
Long war rocketeer movie#
See, these days you can throw a dime and hit 10 comic superheroes who have gotten or are getting their own movies, but back in the mid-1980s, it was next to impossible to sell studio execs the idea of spending millions on a movie based around a comic book character.
It's been a rocky road to this long-awaited news.
Clippers) and Ryan Kalil (Carolina Panthers), whose new venture Mortal Media is producing, are teaming up with Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book producer Brigham Taylor on the project. Writers Max Winkler (son of Henry, and who has directed episodes of New Girl and Brooklyn Nine-Nine ) and his writing-producing partner Matt Spicer are on board but there is no director or casting news as of yet. Our new heroine will attempt to save the day by stopping a rogue rocket scientist from using jet-pack technology to nefarious ends in the Cold War era. The Hollywood Reporter reports the reboot, called The Rocketeers, will be set six years after the original when stunt pilot/jet-pack hero Cliff Secord has disappeared in a Nazi battle. The Rocketeer is officially getting a sequel/reboot, with a black female character taking the lead. "Is that a rocket in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?"