Buffy and Flight of Navigator Reboots

"Flight of the Navigator," one of Disney's classic sci-fi tales, is getting remade.

According to Empire, "It comes as no surprise after the success of this spring's 'Race To Witch Mountain,' which saw Disney bring new life to another family sci-fi franchise. It will join the raft of remakes currently in production, set to pay tribute to the childhoods of twenty and thirty-somethings everywhere, such as 'The Neverending Story' and 'The Karate Kid.'

'Navigator' will be taken in hand by 'Arrested Development' and 'Wild Hogs' writer Brad Copeland, and produced by the duo about to bring us Bruce Willis in 'Surrogates,' David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman. Executive producer of the 1986 film, John Hyde, will oversee the proceedings here also."

The original tells the story of a 12-year-old boy who is abducted by an alien spacecraft in 1978 and reappears eight years later, still the same age and with no memory of what happened. NASA scientists discover a connection between the boy and a downed spacecraft and try to exploit the boy, who ultimately escapes with the ship and attempts to reunite with his family. It starred Sarah Jessica Parker, Howard Hesseman and even Paul Reubens.

"Flight of the Navigator" was made fairly inexpensively and only grossed $18 million in its theatrical run, becoming a bigger hit on VHS.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "A new incarnation of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' could be coming to the big screen.

'Buffy' creator Joss Whedon isn't involved and it's not set up at a studio, but Roy Lee and Doug Davison of Vertigo Entertainment are working with original movie director Fran Rubel Kuzui and her husband, Kaz Kuzui, on what is being labeled a remake or relaunch, but not a sequel or prequel.

While Whedon is the person most associated with 'Buffy,' Kuzui and her Kuzui Enterprises have held onto the rights since the beginning, when she discovered the 'Buffy' script from then-unknown Whedon. She developed the script while her husband put together the financing to make the 1992 movie, which was released by Fox.

Kuzui later teamed with Gail Berman, then president of Sandollar Television, bringing back Whedon to make the TV series, which was produced by Fox TV and launched on the WB in 1997. Kuzui and Sandollar received executive producer credits on 'Buffy' and its spinoff, 'Angel.'

The new 'Buffy' film, however, would have no connection to the TV series, nor would it use popular supporting characters like Angel, Willow, Xander or Spike. Vertigo and Kuzui are looking to restart the story line without trampling on the beloved existing universe created by Whedon, putting the parties in a similar situation faced by Paramount, J.J. Abrams and his crew when relaunching 'Star Trek.'

One of the underlying ideas of 'Buffy' allows Vertigo and Kuzui to do just that: that each generation has its own vampire slayer to protect it. The goal would be to make a darker, event-sized movie that would, of course, have franchise potential.

The parties are meeting with writers and hearing takes, and later will look for a home for the project. The producers do not rule out Whedon's involvement but have not yet reached out to him."

That is a mouthful for "Buffy" fans. While I myself have seen the movie, I never watched the show (I am more of a movie person than television). But it is on my list of must-watch-television-shows-someday.

What will be remade next?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!