David-Jessica Oyelowo to produce Disney reboot of 'The Rocketeer'

'Selma' star David Oyelowo may also star in 'The Return Of The Rocketeer', while Jessica Oyelowo will jointly produce the film under the Yoruba Saxon Productions banner.

The sequel 'The Return of The Rocketeer' will be produced under the banner of Oyelowo's Yoruba Saxon Productions, with David possibly taking a starring role. Ed Ricourt is penning the screenplay for the film with Brigham Taylor and Yoruba Saxon joining as producers, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

'The Rocketeer' was based on the popular 1980s indie comic by Dave Stevens and like 'Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark', it was a loving homage to the serials of the 1930s and 1940s.

The story followed Cliff Secord, a stunt pilot who discovers a rocket pack and suit to die for and becomes embroiled with mobsters and Nazis, as well as Howard Hughes and the FBI. The Joe Johnston-directed movie starred Billy Campbell as Secord, Jennifer Connelly as his aspiring actress (a Betty Page homage) girlfriend, Timothy Dalton as an Errol Flynn-type actor who is a Nazi spy and Alan Arkin as Secord's mechanic.

Disney has long considered a reboot of the movie, but had to wait before a fresh view on the characters in 'The Rocketeers' came into focus. The new story will portray a retired Tuskegee airman who takes up the mantle of 'The Rocketeer'.

David Oyelowo had worked with Disney in the 2016 chess drama 'Queen of Katwe'. He will next be seen in Doug Liman's sci-fi thriller 'Chaos Walking' and the Blumhouse production 'Only You'. 

'The Rocketeer' reboot is the first film under Yoruba Saxon's first-look deal with Disney and is being developed by the studio's live-action team for release on Disney+.