One of the most legendary science fiction heroes of the 20th century is rocketing back to the big screen. Buck Rogers is getting a big-screen reboot from Legendary Pictures. Zeb Wells, the scribe of Marvel‘s recent animated horror hit Marvel Zombies, is on board to pen the script.
According to reports, Legendary intends to relaunch the character into a multimedia franchise, with a live-action TV series and an anime series spinning out of the film. Wells is a reliable workhorse in the science fiction and superhero genres. He wrote and directed for the Adult Swim animated series Robot Chicken and co-created the Crackle-exclusive series SuperMansion. He’s also written extensively for Marvel Comics, including a recent run on Amazing Spider-Man and the lead story in Deadpool/Batman, Marvel and DC‘s first crossover comic in decades. He’s contributed to a number of scripts for MCU features, including Thor: Love and Thunder, The Marvels, and Deadpool & Wolverine.
Who Is Buck Rogers?
Created by Philip Francis Nowlan and Dick Calkin in his own eponymous comic strip in 1929, Buck Rogers is a World War I veteran who was surveying a mine near Pittsburgh when he was trapped by a cave-in. Put into a state of suspended animation, he was revived 500 years later, in the 25th century. As a man out of time, he soon finds himself embroiled in a futuristic war alongside freedom fighter Wilma Deering. The strip, which was strongly inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ John Carter novels, was enormously popular and influential; it inspired a number of imitators, including Flash Gordon. The character first came to the big screen in 1939 via a 12-part serial, which starred famed Olympian Buster Crabbe (who also played Flash Gordon and Burroughs’ Tarzan) as Rogers. The Buck Rogers serial was influential for George Lucas, whose most successful creation led to Buck Rogers‘ revival. In the science fiction craze that followed Star Wars, NBC greenlit Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, a live-action prime-time series. Starring Gil Gerard as Rogers, Erin Gray as Deering, and Mel Blanc as the voice of their robot sidekick Twiki, the series only lasted two seasons, but became a cult favorite.
There have been numerous attempts to revive Buck Rogers from his decades-long slumber. Frank Miller was working on an adaptation before the critical and commercial failure of The Spirit. More recently, Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man) was writing a Buck Rogers TV series that had George Clooney attached at one point.
A new Buck Rogers movie is in development at Legendary Pictures.
via Collider