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Disney Bringing Back Randal Kleiser's Flight of the Navigator

by Alex Billington
May 25, 2009

Another day, another remake. Disney is readying another launch of the sci-fi adventure movie Flight of the Navigator. The original film came out in 1986 and starred Joey Cramer as a boy who takes command over an alien spaceship and goes joyriding around the world. Disney has hired Wild Hogs screenwriter Brad Copeland to write the new script, but they haven't chosen a director yet. John Hyde, who executive produced the first one, will return in the same role this time as well. If this turns out anything like the Race to Witch Mountain remake (which was a classic Disney sci-fi from 1975 modernized), then I will be quite upset.

Flight of the Navigator was made fairly inexpensively and only grossed $18 million in its theatrical run, becoming a bigger hit on VHS. I'm expecting Disney to pump some money into this, as it probably needs to be big and flashy this time to capture the interest of today's young audiences. I'm a bit upset by this news because Flight of the Navigator was one of my absolute favorites as a kid. I saw it again earlier this year at the New Beverly and it was just as great as I remember, even though it could use a remake. Unfortunately, I fear this will end up as bad as either of the Race to Witch Mountain or Day the Earth Stood Still remakes.

Filed under Movie News, Opinions

From around the web:

Nice

wow... i liked the original, but it was kinda corney..... so lets hope this new one is good
awesomead

I have some pretty fond memmories of this flick from when I was a kid, but I haven't seen it in as long either so I can't comment on how well it holds up. I certainly thought it was cool at the time.
TheManWithNoName

Hopefully the get Paul Rubens back.
Outlaw

My only question: which character will Dwayne Johnson be playing?
Dan W

oh man I remember the original one. I forgot all about it until now. I don't know how I feel about this news though. Most remake announcements make me uncomfortable. It's been said many times before, but I mostly prefer originality over these remakes. And I'm sure most people share this feeling
xerxex

awesome, brings back the good ole days! Oh wait the 90's sucked! Damn it!
Marcus

@Outlaw Most deffinitely the voice of the ship.
cregso

ahhhh come on!!!!! I loved this film when i was a kid, sarah jessica parker with that 80's haircut, the kid singing the beach boys as he flew all over the place, superb!! But i know they are going to screw this up, they will prob get some chump to voice the ship, some snot nosed punk to play the kid and pretty much ruin another great film from the 80s let the originals alone and get some new ideas hollywood!!!
movieboy

this will turn out to be SHIT Flight of the Navigator was great movie at the time it was released nowadays if they do a remake of this classic it will be turn out to be very bad
http://alexmasterson.wordpress.com/ Digital Metaphor

"Seeya later Navigator!" Awesome film, it'll be difficult to capture that old magic. Be good to see if they manage it though!
http://www.bleepinggeek.com Pete the Geek

Well, it's a Disney remake so they'll either cast some aging B-lister as one or both of the parents (either Dwayne Johnson, Tim Allen, or Eddie Murphy), or they'll change the skin color or gender of the kid, then cast one of their "up and coming stars" (aka Tweeny Mouse Clone of the year), toss in some "current" jokes about today's fads and bingo, multi-million dollar opening weekend.
I have anxiety

I've been saying for years I wanna see a remake of this. It's one of my favorite childhood movies. I have to agree that I hope it doesn't turn on like TDTESS or RTWM. It would be cool if pee wee played the alien again, I wouldn't care. but we all know that wont happen. Theyll probably get like James Earl Jones or something. lol. As long as Shia Lebouf doesnt star, I'll pay to see it.
cregso

YOU ARE.............THE NAVIGATOR!!!
Richard

I remember loving this movie when I was a kid, I also haven't seen it in so long I don't know how Id feel about it now, I think with the subject matter, it would be pretty had to really screw it up.
http://www.dropcards.com/oct8pus Google The Oct8pus

Here on Marklar we refer to people places and things as Marklar...
The Gieb

Instead of the studios remaking these and other classics, why don't they just restore these films and re-release them in the theaters again? I would love to see a restored version of films like "The Goonies", Ferris Bueler's Day Off, and so on. Plus wouldn't it be cheaper in the long run? I know that it will never happen but it's a thought.
I have anxiety

the only thing that keeps this movie from holding up today is it's REALLY 80's. Like hardcore 80's. other than that it's still good.
Last Son

What's Next "Back To The Future". F**k remakes.
avoidz

This is a classic 1980's family film and I seriously doubt a remake will be anything as successful or, more importantly, memorable. I always liked the time travel element in the story, with Cramer's child character encountering his older family and younger brother, who is now older than he is. That part where he has to make the choice between staying or going back to his own time is a very moving scene. As long as the original 1986 version is available, I don't give a shit what they do with a remake.
avoidz

(Here's one of the Trimaxian Drone Ship props, on the MGM Studios back-lot Tour in Florida. Sad to see it in such bad condition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Trimaxion_Drone_Ship.jpg
http://twitter.com/BornAwesome Lacey

really? ugh....