The much-loved 1986 classic Flight of the Navigator is being remade for Disney Plus with Bryce Dallas Howard at the helm.
Bryce Dallas Howard is attached to direct and produce a female-led reimagining of the 1986 kids sci-fi adventure movie for Walt Disney Studios.
The project, which is intended for Disney+, will also be produced by John Swartz, Howard’s partner at production company Nine Muses, and Justin Springer.
The original movie told of a 12-year-old boy who is abducted by a UFO and reappears eight years later at the exact same age and with no memories of what happened. When NASA officials spot a connection between the boy and a recovered UFO and try to ensnare him, the kid attempts to unravel the intergalactic mystery while trying to reunite with his family.
While Howard is known for her work in front of the camera — she is one of the stars of the Jurassic World franchise and starred as Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3 — she has been slowly making moves to build a new career as a director.
After helming several shorts and a documentary, Howard made her TV debut directing two episodes of Star Wars series The Mandalorian, made by Disney-owned Lucasfilm. She also has an episode of The Book of Boba Fett under her belt as well; that will stream on Disney+ this winter. Navigator would serve as her feature directorial debut.
The original film was directed by Randall Kleiser, better known for directing the 1978 smash hit Grease but also for renting a room off George Lucas’ when Kleiser appeared in Lucas’ student film Freiheit while they were both at USC back in the 60’s.
