'Navigator' to take flight again
Disney, Mandeville set remake of 1986 sci-fi adventure
By Borys Kit
May 25, 2009, 11:00 PM ET

"Flight of the Navigator"
Disney is readying another launch of sci-fi adventure movie "Flight of the Navigator."

Brad Copeland is writing the remake, which is being produced by Mandeville partners David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman.

The 1986 original told 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.

The movie grossed only $17 million when it was released but was later rediscovered on VHS, becoming a cult hit.

John Hyde, who executive produced the first one, steps into the same role for the new version.

Mandeville's senior vp Albert Page will help oversee development and exec produce. Kristin Burr is overseeing for Disney.

Copeland, repped by UTA, wrote "Wild Hogs" for Disney and is writing "Nightcrawlers" at Warners. He cut his teeth in the TV world, where he acted as writer-producer on "Arrested Development" and recently as writer and consulting producer on "My Name is Earl."

Disney-based Mandeville is readying the release of "The Proposal," the Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds romantic comedy opening June 19. The company is behind the Bruce Willis sci-fi action thriller "The Surrogates," which Disney scheduled for a Sept. 25 release, and is in pre-production on Relativity and Paramount's "The Fighter," a boxing pic which will see David O. Russell directing Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg.

Copeland, repped by UTA, wrote "Wild Hogs" for Disney

Flight of the Navigator is gearing up to soar for Disney once again.

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.

In the new iteration, the protagonist will be female, although it is unclear if the age bracket will change as well.

Randal Kleiser, best known for directing 1978’s Grease, helmed the movie, which was released by Disney although it did not make it. It was, rather, produced and financed by now defunct company Producers Sales Organization, which found success in the 1980s with The Outsiders and The NeverEnding Story.

Disney tried reimagining the title in 2009 — at one point, Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly worked on the script — but lost the rights to Lionsgate in the 2010s. The latter tried to develop a version with Lucifer showrunner Joe Henderson. The version didn’t achieve liftoff and the property is back at Disney.

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.

Howard is repped by WME, Management 360, and attorney PJ Shapiro.