Although it was a box office dud on its cinematic release, director Joe (Captain America) Johnston’s The Rocketeer is fondly remembered by those who saw it back in 1991, gaining a bit of a cult reputation in the intervening years and proving successful in the home entertainment market (ie ye olde VHS before shiny DVDs and Blu-rays elbowed them into obscurity). The Rocketeer starred one Billy Campbell (speaking of obscurity…) as Cliff Secord, an ace 1930s air pilot who becomes an enthusiastic superhero when he stumbles across a prototype jet pack hidden in the cockpit of his plane by cheap gangsters who have stolen it from its developer, Mr Howard Hughes. You may remember Timothy Dalton chewing up the scenery as a Nazi bad guy and Jennifer Connelly glowing and pouting as Cliff’s pneumatic love interest.

Now it appears that The Rocketeer, created by artist Dave Stevens (who died in 2008) and published by the now long-defunct Pacific Comics, may be getting a second shot at big-screen glory. Rumour has it that Disney studio chiefs are sniffing around the property again and have invited unnamed “various writers” to pitch ideas for a revived Rocketeer reboot. This may all be pie in the sky and it may never get off the ground, but Starburst will keep an eye on this one and let you know if it… er… flies…

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