Bryce Dallas Howard will make her feature directorial debut with a reboot of Flight Of The Navigator, which is in development for Disney+.
The original 1986 film revolves around a 12-year-old boy named David who is abducted by aliens and disappears for eight years, only to reappear at the exact same age, with no memory that he had been missing. David then has to go on a journey to unravel the mystery of his disappearance, while evading NASA officials who also want to find out what happened.
Howard’s version will be a female-led reimagining, substituting David for a female protagonist, though it’s currently unclear whether the age of her protagonist will remain the same as the original.
This is actually the second time Disney has attempted a Flight Of The Navigator reboot. Back in 2009 the studio hired Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly to develop a reimagining, but the project fell through and Disney lost the rights to Lionsgate.
That studio then tried to reboot the film into a franchise with Joe Henderson (Lucifer) at the helm, but that didn’t work either, and the rights reverted back to Disney.
Now with Disney+ needing content and not every film needing a theatrical release, it looks far more likely that this new version of Flight Of The Navigator will actually see the light of day.
Howard is the daughter of Ron Howard, so directing runs in her blood. But while this is her feature debut behind the camera, she has previously helmed episodes of The Mandalorian, and an upcoming episode of The Book Of Boba Fett, so she not only has experience, but experience working with Disney. So this collaboration makes total sense.
Howard will also produce Flight Of The Navigator under her Nine Muses production banner, alongside John Swartz and Justin Springer. No release date or casting details have been revealed yet.
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