Gary Whitta, the screenwriter behind Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and The Book of Eli, announced on Twitter that he is working with co-writer Jonathan Betuel, who wrote 1984’s The Last Starfighter, on a reboot of the sci-fi cult classic. Whitta shared concept art for the project, created by Matt Allsopp, which you can view below.
Okay, probably shouldn’t show you this so early but here’s a little something I’ve been tinkering on with my co-writer Jonathan Betuel. You might recognize the ships. Thanks to the amazing Matt Allsopp (lead concept artist on ROGUE ONE) for creating these images for us. pic.twitter.com/CIobLYYRHk
— Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) April 4, 2018
People seemed excited by the first tweet so here’s a tiny bit more of Matt’s concept art. Can’t show anything more after this, it’s all too spoilery 🙂 #GreetingsStarfighter pic.twitter.com/FydxLwEfrt
— Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) April 4, 2018
Whitta spoke with i09 about the project, explaining that The Last Starfighter has always been one of his all-time favorites: “It is a deeply special movie for me… the idea that playing a game could be a magic ticket to a real space adventure, I just always thought that concept was utterly brilliant.” Whitta feels that the movie is “sorely underrated” and says that he eventually tracked Betuel down — who still retains a piece of ownership from the original — and they discussed “what a new version might look like” of the film.
Whitta goes on to say that the two writers have spent many hours working on The Last Starfighter reboot and now have “a fully developed story that is 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. We’re both very excited about it creatively.”
Whitta and Betuel’s “passion project” still has an uphill road in front of it as the two have “some remaining biz stuff” to do before they can move forward. So far, Whitta says that they’ve had a lot of talks with Universal and that he and Betuel are determined to make The Last Starfighter reboot a reality.
What do you think of the news, Last Starfighter fans? Share your thoughts in the comments and whether or not you’re excited to see a potential reboot on the big screen!
