Don’t hold your breath for that long-rumored sequel to The Last Starfighter. Filmmaker Gary Whitta, who has been working on a sequel to the cult 1980s hit for years with original Starfighter writer Jonathan R. Betuel, said on Twitter that the movie has not progressed in a while, suggesting it’s possible the whole thing might never happen. Whether this is due to funding issues, or some of the same rights complications that prevented Betuel and original director Nick Castle from making their planned revival years ago, is anyone’s guess at this point, but the outlook sounds bleak.
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The 1984 original centered on Alex (Guest), who earns a high score on an arcade game, only to discover that the game — “The Last Starfighter,” natch — is in fact a sophisticated recruitment device for a genuine revolution in space. Drafted into service and belted into the cockpit, Alex became the only hope of an oppressed alien race in need of a hero.
“To be honest there’s a decent chance it never happens,” Whitta told a fan on Twitter. “But if it doesn’t, it won’t be for the lack of effort on my and Jon’s part.”
The project has been stuck in development hell for more than a decade, with Castle saying in 2018 that the original plan had been to make a legacy sequel featuring the original cast.
“This was 10 years ago or more, maybe 12 years ago,” Castle said. “I think it was 2005 and it was going to be at that point a 30 year, 35 year sequel. It was literally a sequel where Lance [Guest] and Catherine Marie [Stewart], the leads were going to come back as parents. We had a fun script so I’m not sure right now where Jonathan [Betuel] is going to take it. He has a partner named Gary Whitta who wrote Rogue One, so he’s in good company there. Hopefully, they’ll mount something fun and we’ll see our characters again.”
Betuel and Castle were setting up the film at Relativity last time around, but rights issues got in the way of the movie ever being made. Shortly after that, Relativity itself folded (one of the many times that the planned reboot of The Crow was forced to start over again). In 2015, those rights issues were reportedly resolved, and both a movie sequel and a TV revival were rumored at various points.
Are you a fan of The Last Starfighter? What do you think about the prospect of a sequel, with or without members of the original cast? Sound off in the comments, or hit up @russburlingame on Twitter to talk about your favorite ’80s Star Wars knock-off!
