Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

Buck Rogers

4/5/10 – SCI FI Wire reported that director Paul W.S. Anderson will take on the classic sci-fi franchise Buck Rogers, and he's going back to the original concept—a man thrust 500 years into the future (in this case, the 26th century).  Screenwriters Art Markum and Matt Holloway are working on a Buck Rogers script. They worked on the script to the first Iron Man movie.  The writers have hashed out a storyline going back to the original concept. "You take a relatable modern-day man, you put him in the far-flung future," Anderson said. "I think what Markum and Holloway will do—which they did with Iron Man—which is bring a lot of kind of humanity and character to the story. So I think they're going to write a great Buck character in the way that they wrote a great Tony Stark character."  Anderson added: "In the case of Buck Rogers, I'm going to have the help of Markum and Holloway, who wrote the original Iron Man [and] who are terrific writers. It's not just going to be me. They're going to be bolstering my visual vision of what Buck should be with, I think, some tremendous character work."  Buck Rogers was last adapted as a television series in 1979, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Anderson promises a serious sci-fi epic adaptation from his team. "You're dealing with Earth in 500 years' time, so your imagination can run rampant as to what that is," Anderson said. "We're going to do it straight. There won't be the kind of camp factor that you had in the '70s show."

3/24/10 - Paul W.S. Anderson will direct Buck Rogers from a script by co-writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, according to Variety.  Paradox Entertainment will produce the new adventure and could be produced in 3D.  Buck Rogers, about a fighter pilot who awakens in the 25th century, is credited with helping turn outer space into a setting for exploration and action adventure stories.  "Buck has already been such a huge influence on action-adventure franchises like 'Star Wars' and 'Indiana Jones,' so for me it is a thrilling opportunity to be allowed to return to the source and relaunch such an epic character," Anderson said.

12/19/08 - Frank Miller and Odd Lot Entertainment, the creator and production company behind the upcoming comic-book adventure The Spirit, are close to teaming again on the classic sci-fi property Buck Rogers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Odd Lot, the company run by Gigi Pritzker and Deborah Del Prete, is in negotiations to option the rights to Rogers from Nu Image/Millennium, which obtained those rights this year from the Dille Trust. Millennium is expected to get a credit on the movie but won't be involved in day-to-day production.  Miller will write and direct his own big-screen take on the comic serial; while the creator has only begun to sketch ideas, it's expected to be a darker take, with many of Miller's signature visual elements and themes, such as corruption and redemption.  One of the first pop-culture vehicles to tackle the issue of space exploration, the story of Buck Rogers began life as a comic serial in the late 1920s and early '30s and has seen numerous film and television versions over the years.

05/09/08 - A rumor has surfaced that Sin City co-director Frank Miller may be developing a new version of Buck Rogers for the big screen.  Honestly, it’s about time!

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