George Clooney Goes Back to the Future to Produce ‘Buck Rogers’ Reboot
George Clooney is looking to the future with a blast from the past.
Clooney’s Smokehouse Pictures has signed on to produce an updated version of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, based on the classic comic series, which became a hit TV series in 1979.
Clooney, along with Grant Heslov, his producing partner, are producing the title as a limited-run series for Legendary Entertainment. Although The Hollywood Reporter indicates that this might be a starring vehicle for Clooney, according to Variety that is a no go.
Buck Rogers is the story of an astronaut who is put in suspended animation and wakes up in the 25th century. The character first appeared in in the 1920s before becoming a comic book mainstay in the 1930s. The success of a late ’70s film led to the release of the popular TV series starring Gil Gerard and Erin Gray.
Previous attempts to revive the Buck Rogers franchise include the unreleased film by Sin City‘s Frank Miller, who in 2008 announced he was working on a film adaptation of the story.
This adaptation will be written by Brian K. Vaughan, who has written episodes of Lost and Under the Dome, as well as the comic book series Y the Last Man.
No network is signed on to distribute the series, and there is no projected start date for production yet.