By With his “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” series having finished up, British actor David Oyelowo is looking forward to other projects he has on the way including “The Book of Clarence,” “Role Play” and “Solitary,” all of which he’s already shot and completed.
So what’s next for him? That’s not clear, but in an update with The Wrap, one project he confirms is still very much alive is “The Return of the Rocketeer,” the sequel to the 1991 Disney cult film “The Rocketeer”.
Joe Johnston helmed the original film which starred Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Timothy Dalton and Alan Arkin and followed a stunt pilot in 1938 California who comes into possession of a prototype rocket pack from aviation magnate Howard Hughes.
Asked where the new film stands right now, Oyelowo says:
“We have forward momentum. I know you guys hear this stuff all the time, but we are 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.”
Talking about what drew him to the project, he says:
“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.”
J.D. Dillard was initially attached to direct the movie but stepped away a year ago before Ashe boarded the film which will follow a retired Tuskegee airman who takes up the mantle of the Rocketeer.
No filming or release date for the project has yet been set.
The post Oyelowo Offers “Rocketeer” Sequel Update appeared first on Dark Horizons.
