The Rocketeer (released internationally asThe Adventures of the Rocketeer) is a 1991 Americansuperhero film fromWalt Disney Pictures and released as aTouchstone Pictures film internationally. It was produced byCharles Gordon,Lawrence Gordon, andLloyd Levin, directed byJoe Johnston, and starsBilly Campbell,Jennifer Connelly,Alan Arkin,Timothy Dalton,Paul Sorvino, andTiny Ron Taylor. It is based on thecharacter of the same name created by comic book artist and writerDave Stevens.

The Rocketeer
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Joe Johnston
Screenplay by	Danny Bilson Paul De Meo
Story by	Danny Bilson Paul De Meo William Dear
Based on	The Rocketeer byDave Stevens
Produced by	Charles Gordon Lawrence Gordon Lloyd Levin
Starring	Billy Campbell Alan Arkin Jennifer Connelly Paul Sorvino Timothy Dalton
Cinematography	Hiro Narita
Edited by	Michael A. Stevenson Arthur Schmidt
Music by	James Horner
Production companies	Walt Disney Pictures[1] Silver Screen Partners IV Gordon Company
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release date	June 21, 1991 (1991-06-21)
Running time	108 minutes[2]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$35–40 million[3][4]
Box office	$46.7 million (U.S.)[1][4]

Set in 1938Los Angeles,California,The Rocketeer tells the story ofstunt pilot Cliff Secord, who discovers a hiddenrocket pack that he thereafter uses to fly without the need of an aircraft. His heroic deeds soon attract the attention ofHoward Hughes and theFBI, who are hunting for the missing rocket pack, as well as theNazi operatives who stole it from Hughes.

Development forThe Rocketeer started as far back as 1983, when Stevens sold thefilm rights to the character.Steve Miner andWilliam Dear considered directingThe Rocketeer before Johnston signed on. ScreenwritersDanny Bilson andPaul De Meo had creative differences with Disney, causing the film to languish indevelopment hell.^[5] The studio also intended to change the trademark helmet design; Disney CEOMichael Eisner wanted a straightNASA-type helmet, but Johnston convinced the studio otherwise. Johnston also had to convince Disney to let him cast actor Billy Campbell in the lead role. Filming forThe Rocketeer lasted from September 19, 1990, to January 22, 1991. Thespecial effects sequences were created and designed byIndustrial Light and Magic and supervised by animation directorWes Takahashi.

The film was released on June 21, 1991, and received positive reviews from critics.^[6] Plans forRocketeer sequels were abandoned after the film underperformed at the box office, grossing only $46 million domestically on US on a $35 million budget. However, atelevision series based on the film, with Campbell reprising his role, premiered onDisney Junior in November 2019. In early 1991,Toy Biz had the rights to a massive Rocketeer toy line, including different versions of Cliff; this was akin to theKenner Products Batman toy lines. Several prototypes were made, but the toy line was shut down; Disney pulled the license from Toy Biz leaving only Just Toys having the rights.

In 1938Los Angeles, gangsters from Eddie Valentine's gang steal a prototyperocket pack from aviation magnateHoward Hughes. During their escape from the pursuing police, the getaway driver quickly stops and hides the rocket in aCurtiss JN Jennybiplane cockpit at an airfield. As the chase continues,stunt pilot Cliff Secord's yellow and blackGee Bee Zmonoplane is destroyed, ending his air-racing career. Film star Neville Sinclair hired Valentine's gang to steal the rocket, and sends his monstrous henchman Lothar to find its location. Meanwhile, Cliff and hisairplane mechanic, Peevy, find the rocket and begin testing it.

Cliff's girlfriend is aspiring actress Jenny Blake, who has a small part in Sinclair's latest film; recent events start driving a wedge in their relationship. Sinclair overhears Cliff attempting to tell Jenny about the rocket, so he invites her to dinner. Afterward, at a localair show, Cliff uses the rocket to rescue his elderly friend Malcolm, who is piloting the biplane to save Cliff's job. This makes Cliff an immediate flying sensation, but also sets Sinclair and theFBI on his trail.

Sinclair sends Lothar to Cliff and Peevy's home to find the rocket. The FBI arrives soon after, but Cliff and Peevy escape while Lothar steals the latter'sschematic. Later, at the airfield diner, Cliff and Peevy are trapped by several Valentine mobsters; they learn about Jenny's date with Sinclair and the actor's involvement in the hunt for the rocket. The diner patrons overpower the gangsters, but a stray fired bullet punctures the rocket's fuel tank, which Peevy temporarily patches with chewing gum. Cliff flies to the South Seas Club, where he tells Jenny about his new Rocketeer alter ego. The Valentine gang arrives, and in the ensuing melée, Sinclair kidnaps Jenny.

At Sinclair's home, he attempts to seduce Jenny, but she knocks him out and discovers he is a spy forNazi Germany. She is quickly recaptured and forced to tell Cliff to bring the rocket to theGriffith Observatory in exchange for her life. Shortly thereafter, Cliff is arrested by the FBI and taken to Howard Hughes, who explains his rocket is based on a prototype Nazi scientists have been unsuccessful in developing, and shows him a Nazi propaganda film depicting an army of flying commandos using perfected rocket packs to invade the United States. He also mentions the FBI are trying to locate a Nazi spy in Hollywood employing Valentine's gang, whom Cliff realizes is Sinclair. When Hughes and the FBI demand the return of the rocket, Cliff escapes, but inadvertently leaves behind a clue to where he is headed.

Cliff flies to the rendezvous, where Sinclair demands that Cliff hand over the rocket. Cliff divulges to Eddie that the actor is a Nazi spy; the infuriated Valentine gang, while being gangsters are still patriots, turns their weapons on Sinclair. However, Sinclair summons a hidden troop of heavily armed NaziS.A., as the GermanairshipLuxembourg appears overhead to evacuate Sinclair and the troops. The FBI, who have secretly followed Cliff, suddenly announce their presence, and they and the mobsters join forces and battle the Nazis. Sinclair and Lothar escape, dragging Jenny aboard the airship.

Cliff flies to and boardsLuxembourg, but during the ensuing showdown, Jenny accidentally starts a fire with a flare gun on the airship's bridge. Sinclair holds Jenny hostage, forcing Cliff to give him the rocket, but not before Cliff covertly removes the chewing gum patching the fuel leak. Sinclair dons the rocket and flies off, but the leaking fuel causes the rocket to catch on fire, causing him to fall to his death. Lothar is killed asLuxembourg explodes, but Cliff and Jenny are rescued just in time by Howard Hughes and Peevy flying aPitcairn PCA-2autogyro.

Hughes later presents Cliff with a brand-new Gee Bee Z air racer and a pack ofBeemans gum. As Hughes leaves, Jenny returns Peevy's stolen rocket blueprint to him, which she found in Sinclair's home; Peevy decides that, with some modifications, he can build an even better one.

Comic book writer/artistDave Stevens created theRocketeer in 1982 and immediately viewed the character as an idealprotagonist for a film adaptation.Steve Miner purchased thefilm rights from Stevens in 1983, but he strayed too far from the original concept and the rights reverted to Stevens.^[7] In 1985, Stevens gave writersDanny Bilson andPaul De Meo a freeoption onThe Rocketeer rights. Stevens liked that "their ideas forThe Rocketeer were heartfelt and affectionate tributes to the 1930sserial films with all the right dialogue and atmosphere. Most people would approach my characters contemporarily, but Danny and Paul saw them as pre-war mugs".^[8]

Stevens, Bilson, and De Meo began to consider makingThe Rocketeer as alow-budget film, shot inblack-and-white and funded byindependent investors. Their plan was to make the film a completehomage to Republic'sCommando Cody rocket man serials, and use a cast largely associated withcharacter actors. However, that same year, the trio approachedWilliam Dear to direct/co-writeThe Rocketeer, and they eventually dropped the low-budget idea.^[7] Bilson, De Meo, and Dear kept the comic book's basic plot intact, but fleshed it out to include a Hollywood setting and a climactic battle against a Nazi Zeppelin.^[8] They also tweaked Cliff's girlfriend to avoid comparisons toBettie Page (Stevens' original inspiration), changing her name from Betty to Jenny and her profession from nude model to Hollywood extra (a change also made to make the film more Disney family-friendly).^[7] Dear, proceeded to transform the climax from a submarine into a Zeppelin setpiece.^[8]

Stevens, Bilson, De Meo, and Dear began topitchThe Rocketeer in 1986 to themajor film studios but were turned down. "This was 1986, long beforeBatman orDick Tracy or anything similar", Stevens explained. "In those days, no studio was interested at all in an expensive comic book movie. We got there about three years too early for our own good!"^[7]Walt Disney Studios eventually acceptedThe Rocketeer because they believed the film hadtoyetic potential and appeal for merchandising.The Rocketeer was set to be released through the studio'sTouchstone Pictures label; Stevens, Bilson, De Meo, and Dear all signed a contract which would permit them to make a trilogy ofRocketeer films. However, Disney studio chairmanJeffrey Katzenberg switched the film to aWalt Disney Pictures release. According to Stevens, "immediately, Betty and anything else 'adult' went right out with the bathwater. They really tried to shoehorn it into a kiddie property so they could sell toys. All they really wanted at the end of the day, was the name".^[7]

Bilson and DeMeo then submitted their seven-pagefilm treatment to Disney, but the studio put their script through an endless series of revisions. Over five years, Disney fired and rehired Bilson and DeMeo three times. DeMeo explained that "Disney felt that they needed a different approach to the script, which meant bringing in someone else. But those scripts were thrown out and we were always brought back on".^[8] They found the studio's constant tinkering with the screenplay to be a frustrating process as "executives would like previously excised dialogue three months later. Scenes that had been thrown out two years ago were put back in. What was the point"?^[8] DeMeo said. One of Bilson and De Meo's significant revisions to the script over the years was to make Cliff and Jenny's romance more believable and avoidcliché aspects that wouldstereotype Jenny as adamsel in distress.^[8] The numerous project delays forced Dear to drop out as director.Joe Johnston, a fan of the comic book, immediately offered his services as director when he found out Disney owned the film rights. Johnston was quickly hired andpre-production started in early 1990. After Bilson and De Meo's third major rewrite, Disney finallygreenlitThe Rocketeer.^[8]

The characterization of Neville Sinclair was inspired by period film starErrol Flynn.^[9] The film's Neville Sinclair is, like biographerCharles Higham's Flynn, a film star known for his work in swashbuckler roles who is secretly a Nazi spy. Because Higham's biography of Flynn was not refuted until the late 1980s, the image of Flynn as a closet Nazi remained current all through the arduous process of writing and re-writing the script.^[10] The other real-life characterization was ofHoward Hughes.^{[Note 1]}

Casting the lead role of Cliff Secord was a struggle.^[11] Disney executiveJeffrey Katzenberg even had one of the studio's staff writers,Karey Kirkpatrick, audition for the part.^[12]Kevin Costner andMatthew Modine were the first actors considered for the role. When they both became unavailable,Dennis Quaid,Kurt Russell,Bill Paxton, andEmilio Estevez auditioned.Johnny Depp was Disney's favorite choice,^[8] and Paxton commented he came "really close" to getting the lead.^[13]Vincent D'Onofrio declined the role^[14] and the filmmakers were forced to continue their search.^[7]

The decision to castBilly Campbell as Cliff Secord caused mixed emotions among Disney executives. Director Joe Johnston and creator Dave Stevens believed Campbell was perfect for the role, but Disney wanted anA-list actor. Johnston eventually convinced Disney otherwise.^[7] Campbell was not familiar with the comic book when he got the part but quickly read it. He read books on aviation and listened to 1940s period music. He overcame hisfear of flying with the help of aerial coordinator Craig Hosking. To ensure his safety, Campbell was doubled for almost all of the flying sequences in conventional aircraft.^[8] Ultimately, a scale model devised by ILM puppeteer Tom St. Amand was used for all the rocket pack scenes.^[15]

For the female lead of Cliff's girlfriend Jenny,Sherilyn Fenn,Kelly Preston,Diane Lane, andElizabeth McGovern were considered beforeJennifer Connelly was eventually cast.^[16] Campbell and Connelly's working relationship eventually became romantic, which Johnston found to be a technique formethod acting that helped with their on-screen chemistry.^[8] For Secord's sidekick, Peevy, Dave Stevens hoped thatLloyd Bridges would play the part, but Bridges turned it down andAlan Arkin was cast. The part of Neville Sinclair was offered toJeremy Irons andCharles Dance beforeTimothy Dalton accepted. Eddie Valentine was written forJoe Pesci, but he declined, so the role went toPaul Sorvino.^[16]

Remaining cast members includedTiny Ron Taylor as Lothar,Terry O'Quinn as Howard Hughes,Jon Polito as Otis Bigelow,Ed Lauter as Agent Fitch,Eddie Jones as Malcolm the Mechanic, and Robert Miranda as Spanish Johnny.Rocketeer creatorDave Stevens has a cameo as the German test pilot who is killed when the Nazis' version of a rocket backpack explodes during the takeoff sequence.

Principal photography lasted from September 19, 1990, to January 22, 1991.^[3] Filming at the Griffith Observatory was done in November 1990.^[3] It went 50 days over schedule due to weather and mechanical problems.^[8]Rocketeer creator Dave Stevens allied himself with director Joe Johnston and production manager Ian Bryce in an effort to be as heavily involved in the production process as possible and to try and secure as muchartistic control from Disney as he could. In particular, Disney was not enthusiastic with Stevens's involvement. He reflected, "I was on the set day and night frompre-production tillpost-production! And initially, I had to fight to prove that I was there for the benefit of the film, and not for my own ego".^[7]

The original production budget was $25 million, but rose to $35 million after Disney became impressed with thedailies. Johnston explained, "they realized this was a bigger movie than they were anticipating and they approved overages. It never got completely out of control".^[3] An abandoned World War IIrunway at the Santa Maria, California airport was the set for the fictional Chaplin Air Field. Additional scenes were shot atBakersfield. For the air circus scene, 700 Santa Mariaextras and 25 vintage aircraft were employed. Aerial coordinator Craig Hosking remarked in an interview, "What makesThe Rocketeer so unique was having several one-of-a-kind planes that hadn't flown in years", including a 1916Standardbiplane and aGee Bee Model Z racer.^[8] The sequence where Cliff rescues Malcolm was adaptedshot-for-shot from Stevens' comic book.^{[7][Note 2][Note 3]}

Stevens gave the film'sproduction designerJim Bissell and his two art directors his entire reference library pertaining to theRocketeer at that time period, including blueprints for hangars and bleachers, schematics for building the autogyro, photos and drawings of the Bulldog Cafe modeled after an actual 1920s cafe,^[19][20] the uniforms for the air circus staff, and contacts for locating the vintage aircraft. Stevens remembered that they "literally just took the reference and built the sets".^[7] Disney originally intended to change the Rocketeer's trademark helmet design completely. PresidentMichael Eisner wanted a straightNASA-type helmet but director Johnston threatened to quit production. Disney relented, but only after creating several prototype designs that were ultimately rejected by the filmmakers. Stevens asked Johnston for one week to produce a good helmet design. He proceeded to work with a sculptor he knew, made a cast of the main stunt man's head, and brainstormed ideas with the help of his sketches. They produced a helmet that the filmmakers agreed looked appropriate from all angles; in most respects it was identical to the helmet design Stevens had used for his comics series.^[7]

Rick Baker designed theRondo Hatton-inspiredprosthetic makeup designs for the Lothar character, portrayed byTiny Ron Taylor.^[21]

The special effects were designed and created byILM with Ken Ralston (Who Framed Roger Rabbit,Sony Pictures Imageworks founder) serving as theVFX supervisor.Rocketeer director Joe Johnston previously worked at ILM, including on theStar Wars trilogy andRaiders of the Lost Ark^[3] and as anart director andmodel maker, before his film directing career took off. His insistence on a realistic flying rocketman led ILM to devise a lifelike Cliff Secord model that was filmed instop-motion, coupled with an 18" figurine that was manipulated by hand and ingo motion, to createmotion blur. The air circus sequence used sped-upMoviola effects, a combination of live-action and stop-motion animation, and a real aerial display held at Santa Monica intercut with film footage.^[22]

The Rocketeer's attack on the Nazi Zeppelin was filmed in four months nearSix Flags Magic Mountain amusement park inValencia, California, throughpick-ups.^[8] Remaining special effects footage was shot at ILM's headquarters inSan Rafael andHamilton Air Force Base. There, they constructed a 12-foot (3.7 m)scale model of the Zeppelin, which was photographed againstmatte paintings that resemble 1938 Los Angeles forintercutting purposes. The Zeppelin explosion special effect alone cost $400,000.^[3]

The music was composed byJames Horner. The soundtrack received positive reviews and was often called one of the film's stronger elements.^[23] The soundtrack was released byHollywood Records and features nearly an hour of music with eight tracks of score and two vocal tracks performed by actress and singerMelora Hardin. An expanded edition was issued in 2016 byIntrada Records. The two songs were arranged byBilly May, who had collaborated with Horner several times in the past.

To promoteThe Rocketeer, Disney madetie-in endorsements withPizza Hut andM&M's/Mars candies.^[24] An extensive product line followed of video games for MS-DOS, NES, and Super NES.^[25]Electronic Gaming Monthly awardedThe Rocketeer Video Game as its "Worst Movie-to-Game" of 1992.^[25] Toys, posters, trading cards, pins, patches, buttons, T-shirts, and children's clothing, licensed coincided with the film's opening.^[26] The studio spent a further $19 million on TV advertising alone.^[27] A television special documentary,The Rocketeer: Excitement in the Air, was broadcast on theDisney Channel in June 1991.^[24] That month, a young adultnovelization written byPeter David was published byBantam Books,^[28] and a similar novelization by Ron Fontes, for younger readers, was published by Scholastic Books for Disney Press.^[29]

The Rocketeer waspremiered at the 1,100 seatEl Capitan Theatre on June 19, 1991. This was the first premiere to take place at the El Capitan in more than two years, after a restoration project by Disney.^[30][31]

Thehome video in 1992 onLaserDisc, VHS, and Beta earned an additional $23.18 million in rentals.^[32] The musical score, compiled and produced by James Horner, was released in both audio cassette and CD variants.^[33]The Rocketeerwas released onRegion 1 DVD byBuena Vista Home Entertainment in August 1999. No special features were included on the later DVD release, although the 1992 LaserDisc (#1239 as) has the original theatrical trailer. A 20th Anniversary EditionBlu-ray Disc was released on December 13, 2011.^[34]

The Rocketeer was released in the United States on June 21, 1991, earning $9.6 million in its opening weekend in 1,616 theaters.^[4]Dick Cook, president of Disney'sBuena Vista Distribution unit said "We've got to be pleased with the way it’s performed, especially since it’s not a sequel and has no big-time stars".^[35] The film opened #4 behindRobin Hood: Prince of Thieves,City Slickers andDying Young and eventually grossed only $46.6 million in US box office, making it a commercial disappointment. Outside of the United States and Canada, the film was released through Disney'sTouchstone Pictures label, in an attempt to attract the teenage audience it did not reach in North America.^[1]

The originalArt Deco poster, artistically similar to the famousMonument to Yuri Gagarin, was changed because it failed to draw attention to the cast, includingJames Bond actor Timothy Dalton. A new poster was designed to feature Dalton, Billy Campbell, and Jennifer Connelly prominently.^[1] The film also failed in Britain, grossing just over £1 million in its first two weeks at just under 250 screens. The new advertising campaign was being designed while the British promotional campaign for the film was already under way and some theaters still had the stylized United States film poster.^[1]

OnRotten Tomatoes, 67% of 66 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.20/10. The site's consensus states: "An action-packed, if anachronistic, look back at pulp matinee serials,The Rocketeer may ring hollow with viewers expecting more than simple fun and gee-whiz special effects."^[36]Metacritic gave the film a score of 61 out of 100, based on reviews from 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[37]

Roger Ebert enjoyed the film, noting itshomages to thefilm serials of the 1930s–1950s. Although Ebert cited the visual effects as beingstate of the art, he described them "as charmingly direct as those rockets in theFlash Gordon serials—the ones with sparklers hidden inside of them, which were pulled on wires in front ofpapier-mâché mountains".^[38]Leonard Maltin wrote that the "film captures the look of the '30s, as well as the gee-whiz innocence of Saturday matinée serials, but it's talky and takes too much time to get where it's going. Dalton has fun as a villain patterned after Errol Flynn".^[21]Peter Travers ofRolling Stone magazine also gave a positive review. "The Rocketeer is more than one of the best films of the summer; it's the kind of movie magic that we don't see much anymore—the kind that charms us, rather than bullying us, into suspending disbelief".^[39]

Internet reviewerJames Berardinelli commented that "The Rocketeer may not be perfect, but it's an excellent example of how to adapt a comic book to the screen".^[18]Janet Maslin fromThe New York Times gave a mixed review. She called it "a benign adventure saga that has attractive stars, elaborate gimmicks and nice production values—everything it needs except a personality of its own". Maslin believed that by setting the story in 1938, the filmmakers were more interested in the Art Deco production design and visual effects instead of imbuing the storyline with "inspiration, which may be why it finally feels flat".^[40]Hal Hinson wrote inThe Washington Post that the film was too concerned withfamily-friendliness.^[41]Jonathan Rosenbaum ofChicago Reader believed both the editing and the storyline were not well balanced and saidThe Rocketeerripped off elements ofIndiana Jones andBack to the Future. Rosenbaum also cited the casting decision ofcharacter actors as being too practical. He explained, "The whole thing is good-natured enough but increasingly mechanical".^[42]

Rocketeer creatorDave Stevens acknowledged he was "satisfied with 70% of the film"^[7] and highly praised Joe Johnston's direction. Stevens remembered, "The overall spirit and sweetness of the series is still there, intact. We lost some good character stuff in editing for time, but the tone of it is still what I was trying to project in the comic pages. I also thought Joe's casting choices were excellent. To his credit, Joe did not fill out the cast with a bunch ofBeverly Hills, 90210Barbie andKen-type kids". Stevens found Billy Campbell to be "a good-looking guy, but he also happens to be Cliff! I would never have cast him based on good looks alone, but he came into the audition and just nailed it shut. He was made for it. The part was his".^{[7][Note 4]}

The Rocketeer was nominated for both theHugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and theSaturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film, but lost toTerminator 2: Judgment Day.^[43]Costume designer Marilyn Vance won theSaturn Award for Best Costumes, while Jennifer Connelly (Best Supporting Actress) and VFX supervisor Ken Ralston (Best Special Effects) also received nominations.^[43][44]

ATV series based on the film premiered onDisney Junior on November 8, 2019. It focuses on Kit Secord, the seven-year-old great-granddaughter of Cliff who receives the rocket and becomes the new Rocketeer. Despite positive reviews, the series was cancelled after one season.^[45]

The series features numerous references to the film. Billy Campbell, who portrayed Cliff Secord, voices Kit's father Dave in the series. Cliff is seen throughout the series via flashback where it is established that he acted as the Rocketeer in the past. However the series retcons the setting of Los Angeles to the fictional Hughesville, in reference to Howard Hughes, and to give the series a more childlike innocence. In the episode "Scarlett's Search", Cliff's plane is found which features a photo of Jenny Blake, his love interest from the film. The episode "Rocketeer Day" features a recreation of the climax of the film, and Kit mentions the Rocketeer's battle with Lothar.

From the beginning of the process of makingThe Rocketeer, creator Dave Stevens and screenwriters Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo envisioned it as the first entry of a trilogy.^[7] Disney, in particular, hoped the film would carry a vein similar to theIndiana Jones franchise.^[8] Both Campbell and Connelly were contracted for sequels, Campbell for two more and Connelly for only one.^[46] However, with the disappointing box office performance, plans for a sequel were halted in July 1991.^[47] Campbell reflected in 2008, "[Unfortunately] the movie didn't make as much money as Disney had hoped. And that coupled with the acrimonious relationship that the director [Joe Johnston] and the studio had, contributed to them not even considering it".^[48]

Although the calls for a sequel remain unrequited, as with many films of this genre, the film has acult following^[48] in both the United States and Japan. In 2008, Medicom, a Japanese toy manufacturer, issued two versions of 12" poseable action figures and replica helmets based on the film.^[49] The original Dave Stevens comics and the movie memorabilia retained demand.^[50] In addition, Johnston's work on this film led to him being hired 20 years later to direct another period superhero film,Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011.^[51]

As of 2012^[update], Disney was reported to be developing a remake ofThe Rocketeer.^[52]Saw series creatorJames Wan has talked about directing the film.^[53]

In July 2016, Walt Disney Pictures confirmed a reboot titledThe Rocketeers, written byMax Winkler and Matt Spicer. It was set to be produced byBrigham Taylor,Blake Griffin of theBrooklyn Nets, andRyan Kalil of theCarolina Panthers. Reportedly a "reboot sequel" takes place six years after the original film, with a black female pilot in the lead role. The lead takes on the mantle of The Rocketeer after Cliff Secord has gone missing while fighting the Nazis. The new Rocketeer goes on a mission to stop a corrupt scientist from stealing rocket pack technology and shifting the power balance of theCold War.^[54][55]Peter Ramsey expressed interest in directing and suggested several other directors likeGina Prince-Bythewood,Darnell Martin, andAmma Asante.^[56][57] In April 2016, Taylor confirmed it as a sequel.^[58]

By January 2020, it was announced that Azia Squire had written a new draft.^[59]J. D. Dillard was set to direct.^[60] In August 2021, the titleThe Return of the Rocketeer was announced. Ed Ricourt was hired to write a new draft of the screenplay, withDavid Oyelowo and his wifeJessica serving as producers, while David may also star as the title role. The plot centers on a formerTuskegee Airman who inherits the rocket pack uniform and the heroic mantle.^[61]

In November 2022, Dillard announced that he was no longer attached to direct, as he wanted to take "a breather from period aviation" after having madeDevotion.^[60]

A funfair ride in Germany called "Commander" prominently features the design and aesthetics inspired byThe Rocketeer.^[62][63] The "Commander" is a high-energy pendulum ride (Mondial Shake R5), where riders are seated in a circular gondola that swings back and forth while spinning around its axis. The ride incorporates elements such as the jetpack motif, art deco styling, and aviation-themed imagery, paying homage to the film's iconic visual language.

• The Rocketeer atIMDb