For the past few years, Disney has been developing a new movie for Disney+ based on the classic 1990s film, “The Rocketeer”, which tells the story of a stunt pilot who comes across a prototype jetpack that gives him the ability to fly. However, evil forces in the world also want this jetpack at any cost.

And the new reboot is going to feature a new story focusing on a retired Tuskegee airman who takes up the Rocketeer mantle. The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African-American military pilots and airmen who fought in World War II.

The new movie will be executive produced by Mortal Media’s Blake Griffin and Ryan Kalil.

Recently, it was revealed that Eugene Ashe had joined the project as a writer and some more details on the upcoming project have been revealed by David Oyelowo, who will be starring and producing the film, along with his wife Jessica. 

While promoting the new Paramount+ streaming series “Lawmen: Bass Reeves”, David explained to The Wrap that the project is still in development:

“We have forward momentum. I know you guys hear this stuff all the time, but we in the script development stage and if you’re going to reinvigorate that beloved franchise, you better come with the goods.  And so Eugene Ashe is currently writing away and we were talking about it only this week. We’re all very committed to that. But it’s going to have to be great and we will not rest until it is.”

David also explained how the new film will be inspired by the original and also how the new version will have a new character.

“Well, I loved the original film. I remember seeing it, and again, not unlike the cowboy genre, there was something about it, the aspirational, inspirational, heroic quality of it. I also liked that it was sort of a bit more DIY and do it yourself in terms of the pack. It wasn’t superpowers. It was a guy. It just felt more grounded somehow.

I had the idea of what happens if the jetpack is passed on to an ex-Tuskegee Airman, someone who you’re not having to do a bunch of heavy lifting as to why does he have the skill and the bravery to be able to don the pack and go off and be heroic?”

That is something that I think the original film had to do a little bit more heavy lifting around is… Secord, he’s this circus pilot, and then how does he get to do that? And all that kind of stuff. But a guy coming out of World War II who is an ace at what he does, those skills are transferable. And that became the jump off for what felt like, and thankfully Disney agreed, a very exciting way into doing this story in a slightly different way.”

No other official details on the upcoming “Rocketeer” film have been announced yet and it still sounds like it’s a while off, but hopefully, we will get another update soon.

This isn’t the first time that Disney has tried to reboot “The Rocketeer” for a new generation, as in 2019, it released a Disney Junior animated series, but it was cancelled after one season. The original film and the animated series are both available to stream on Disney+.

Are you looking forward to watching a new version of “The Rocketeer”?  Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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