Legacy sequels and the 1980s are seriously on-trend right now, which makes a sequel to the 1984 space opera The Last Starfighter the perfect project. Or, at least, it should. Responding to a fan on Twitter, Rogue One and Star Wars Rebels writer Gary Whitta revealed that he is still working hard on bringing a follow-up to The Last Starfighter to the big (or small) screen. But did warn that it may never happen.
So, while you would think that studios would be clamoring to bring a sequel to The Last Starfighter, which it has since been revealed would be titled The Last Starfighters, to screens everywhere, it sounds like Whitta is having to work hard to get it off the ground. Despite this, continue to work hard he will.
“To be honest there’s a decent chance it never happens. But if it doesn’t, it won’t be for the lack of effort on my and Jon’s part.”
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Released in 1984 and directed by Nick Castle, The Last Starfighter follows everyday teenager Alex Rogan, played by Lance Guest, who, after finally achieving the high score on Starfighter, his favorite arcade game, meets the game’s designer, Centauri, played by Robert Preston. Centauri reveals that he created Starfighter as a training ground for developing and recruiting actual pilots to help fight a war in space. Whisked away from the banality of his trailer park life to a distant alien planet, Alex struggles to use his video game-playing skills to pilot a real ship, with real lives at stake.
The gloriously 80s space adventure has become a beloved classic of the era over the years, with work on a potential sequel beginning all the way back in 2008. Whitta has since shared an assortment of concept art for The Last Starfighters and has described the project as “a combination of reboot and sequel that we both think honors the legacy of the original film while passing the torch to a new generation.” Sounds like the perfect legacy sequel to us.
There Have Been Several Promising Updates Lately Regarding The Last Starfighter 2
Universal Pictures
While this latest update on the development of The Last Starfighter 2 is perhaps a little gloomy, there have been several promising updates regarding the sequel of late. Sharing concept art and the title to YouTube last year, Whitta stated, “We are, I believe, very, very close. Closer than anyone has ever been to making a new Last Starfighter movie, like right on the one-yard line. After pushing the boulder uphill for many years we are very, very close. I can’t really say anything more other than that because there’s all stuff happening behind the scenes, there’s things I can’t tell you, but we’re very, very close and I believe it will happen.”
Whitta is not the only one working hard to launch The Last Starfighters, with original writer Jonathan R. Betuel having also offered a promising update on the long-gestating sequel. “It looks like we’ll be making the deal to get it going,” he said back in 2020. “Gary’s a gifted collaborator, we’ll be writing the script together, but it’s taken a long time. I had to go through a process that took years to recapture the rights, but that was recently completed and although nothing is ever clear sailing, it looks like we have a really good opportunity now. So I’m really looking forward to taking it up.”
With such passion behind the project, here’s hoping that The Last Starfighters is able to take flight soon.
