TheFlight of the Navigatorremake has been in various stages of development over the years, but now it seems like the project is about to hit lift off. The Hollywood Reporter announced thatThe Henson Companyis producing the new reboot for Lionsgate and they have tapped Joe Henderson, the showrunner for Fox’sLucifer, to write the script. Disney tried to rebootFlight of the Navigatorback in 2009 and then another time in 2012 with Colin Trevorrow attached to write and direct. Both projects never materialized for one reason or another, but now, 5 years later, the remake seems ready for flight.
The movie told of a 12-year-old Florida boy who is abducted by aUFOand reappears eight years later, at the exact same age and with no memories of what happened. WhenNASAofficials spot a connection between the boy and a recovered UFO and try to ensnare him, the kid tries to unravel the intergalactic mystery while trying to reunite with his family, helping the aliens fix their broken spaceship. The original sci-fi children’s movie features the zany voice acting ofPaul Reubensplaying the part of the alien A.I. named Max.
Flight of the Navigatorgained mostly positive reviews from critics and has gone on to become an 80s children’s classic movie that still resonates today. The movie is notable for its realistic portrayals of family separation, punctuated by comedy breaks by Paul Reubens' voice acting and the tiny, puppet aliens. The original movie was also notable at the time for its early use of CGI effects that were groundbreaking back in 1986 when it came out. It’s not clear what direction that Joe Henderson and Henson will take the new remake, but it’s almost certain that it will involve some pretty impressive puppets.
Henderson’sLuciferis based on the DC/Vertigo comic and airs on Fox. The third season starts up next week, premiering on October 2nd, 2017. Henderson also served as a writer and co-executive producer onWhite Collar,GracelandandAlmost Human. So, it should be pretty interesting to see how they updateFlight of the Navigator, 30 years later with new technology and a different way to modernize the story. One thing is for sure, original star Joey Cramer, probably won’t be involved in the remake at all since he was sentenced to some jail time last year after attempting to rob a bank.
Though the new remake ofFlight of the Navigatorlooks promising, we won’t hold our breath. This will be the third time that an attempt has been made to revive theclassic 80s movie, but who knows. Maybe this will be the one to finally stick and get developed. There are no other further details at this time, but more news should hopefully be released soon.The Hollywood Reporterwas the first to break the news today and was also the first to break the news about Disney’s attempt in 2009 to rebootFlight of the Navigator.
