The Rocketeer is a curious movie. The 1991 Joe Johnston-directed movie starred Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Timothy Dalton, and Alan Arkin. It did very little at the box office, still has bang average review scores on various aggregators, and yet is incredibly highly regarded… but somehow could never really be referred to as a “cult” film.
It told the story of a stunt pilot in 1938 California who comes into possession of a prototype rocket pack from aviation magnate Howard Hughes. He uses it to prevent a planned Nazi invasion of the USA.
After the original flopped, all sequels were cancelled. Over the years, there has been much talk but little action regarding the franchise. Then, suddenly, The Return of the Rocketeer became a thing.
J.D. Dillard was initially attached to direct, then Eugene Ashe came on board for a rewrite. The sequel was to follow a retired Tuskegee airman who takes up the mantle of the Rocketeer. British actor David Oyelowo (Lawman: Bass Reeves) was a producer and set to star as the lead.
Things were moving forward, but now they aren’t.
In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Oyelowo indicated the film has been cancelled. He was talking about another project of his, an adaptation of the novel Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun, that Netflix has also gone cold on.
He said:
“Onyeka is an absolute bull’s-eye for what we are looking to make, but it is also symptomatic of the challenge we have. We gained traction with that project in the wake of the George Floyd murder and in a moment where there was a cultural correction and people seemed to want to do better.
But now we’re in a moment where it’s evident that a lot of that was performative and not bone-deep. Projects like that suddenly become challenged. Onyeka being one, Return of the Rocketeer at Disney being another.”
Expect another attempt at a sequel at some point in the future as The Rocketeer seems destined to get one, somehow.
