Audiences love the 1980s and returning to this decade has been a sure-fire way to hit the right nostalgic notes for some time. Well, get ready to go back once again, as one of the writers behind the cherished 1984 sci-fi adventure The Last Starfighter, Jonathan R. Betuel, has now offered a promising update on his long-gestating sequel.
“It looks like we’ll be making the deal to get it going. Gary’s a gifted collaborator, we’ll be writing the script together but it’s taken a long time. I had to go through a process that took years to recapture the rights, but that was recently completed and although nothing is ever clear sailing, it looks like we have a really good opportunity now. So I’m really looking forward to taking it up.”
Betuel plans to make The Last Starfighter 2 alongside Rogue One and Star Wars Rebels scribe Gary Whitta, and describes the project as “a combination of reboot and sequel that we both think honors the legacy of the original film while passing the torch to a new generation.” Betuel has been planning the follow-up for some time but has sadly been held back by various rights issues and studio problems which have now been rectified.
The Last Starfighter follows everyday teenager Alex Rogan, played by Lance Guest, who, after finally achieving the high score on Starfighter, his favorite arcade game, meets the game’s designer, Centauri, played by Robert Preston. Centauri reveals that he created Starfighter as a training ground for developing and recruiting actual pilots to help fight a war in space. Whisked away from the banality of his trailer park life to a distant alien planet, Alex struggles to use his video game-playing skills to pilot a real ship, with real lives at stake.
The simple space adventure has become a beloved 1980s classic over the years, with fans already being thrust into a flurry of excitement recently thanks to a rumored television series sequel. Betuel has now denied that this was ever a possibility, assuring fans that The Last Starfighter 2 will be a big screen venture.
“I didn’t generate that [report], that was a misfire from a wishful TV producer at the time. This is a movie with all the bells and whistles, and it won’t presuppose that you’ve seen the original film. There’ll be references here and there, but it’ll carry the saga forward.”
Betuel even went on to tease what to expect from his long-planned sequel, as well as how The Last Starfighter 2 would continue the saga whilst still remaining true to the original. “The leads are now parents and time has passed,” he said. “It’s not a remake, it’s going to continue the story. What’s changed is time itself, certainly as the video world and the alien world have continued to tick away. It’s not a time capsule of the 80s by any means, we’re taking it to the next level. Passing the torch… or the joystick.”
So, is The Last Starfighter 2 something you want to see? Or, should the original be left alone? This comes to us courtesy of Movie Hole.
