There have been rumblings over the years about a potential sequel or reboot to THE LAST STARFIGHTER, and Gary Whitta (ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY) revealed two years ago that he was working on a sequel to the film with original screenwriter Jonathan Betuel. It's been some time since we last heard about the project, but Betuel provided a brief update about where they're at with the THE LAST STARFIGHTER sequel while recently speaking with MovieHole.
It looks like we’ll be making the deal to get it going. 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.
There had also been rumours that the project might take the form of a TV series instead of a movie, but Betuel confirmed that the project will be a "movie with all the bells and whistles," and added that although there will be references to the original film, it won't be a retread of the same story. It seems that THE LAST STARFIGHTER sequel might be something of a legacy-quel as Betuel said that the original leads "are now parents and time has passed. It’s not a remake, it’s going to continue the story. What’s changed is time itself, certainly as the video world and the alien world have continued to tick away. It’s not a time capsule of the 80s by any means, we’re taking it to the next level. Passing the torch… or the joystick."
If, like me, you can't quite remember what the 1984 film was all about, it followed Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) as he become embarrassingly good at an arcade game called Starfighter. Once he became the highest-scoring player, Rogan was approached by the game's creator who revealed that the game is a recruiting tool for a real intergalactic conflict. Bring on the crazy aliens and CG space battles!