Buck Rogers Returns…Again!!

Looks like we have another spandex fest on our hands.

IGN is reporting that venerable comic book character Buck Rogers is headed back to the big screen. Nu Image/Millenium, the folks behind the revivals of Rambo and (purportedly) Conan the Barbarian, are producing.

The Buck Rogers character first appeared in 1928 as a novella,written by Philip Francis Nowlan, in the magazine Amazing Stories. It then became a syndicated comic strip, a movie serial starring Buster Crabbe, and a radio show. Several TV versions were attempted, but the best-known and longest-lasting appeared in the 1980s as the campy show Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, starring Gil Gerard and Erin Gray (who was considered by many young boys the main reason to watch the show).

IGN describes the story this way:

Buck Rogers was a U.S. military pilot who falls into a coma after being exposed to a gas and wakes up in the 25th century. Later as a comic strip character, Buck — along with allies Wilma Deering and Dr. Huer — fought cosmic villains such as the Mongols, Killer Kane and Ardala. Buck was updated to be an astronaut for the 1980s TV series.

IGN originally reported that Frank Miller, comic book writer turned screenwriter turned director, was set to direct, but Nu Image/Millenium corrected that, stating that they are still “mulling over their choices.”

I know, with Miller being in such high-demand and working on such big name projects it seems weird that he would be involved in a cheesy overdone sci-fi warhorse like Buck Rogers, but there’s interesting history here: Miller, as it turns out, is friends with Flint Dille, whose family had originally owned the newspapers that ran the Buck Rogers comic strip. The film rights belonged to Jerry Bruckheimer for a while, but then reverted back to the Dilles. Now Flint Dille, a comic book writer himself, is set to write and produce the new film, which, by the way will keep the low-budget, grade z look and effects of the earlier version. Hence the Miller connection. At this point, no idea whether he actually will be involved but it’s nice to see they weren’t just pulling big names out of thin air to pump up their project.

Casting, as always, will be interesting.