Buck Rogers Is Returning to the Big Screen in ‘Armageddon 2419’

Since everything with even vague name recognition is getting rebooted these days, it was only a matter of time before Buck Rogers was updated for modern times. The classic science fiction pulp hero, who has been the subject of books, comics, serials, and a late ‘70s NBC TV series, is ripe for reinvention. Interestingly, those doing the reinventing are doing so by returning to the character’s earliest roots, adapting the original Buck Rogers novel, Armageddon 2419.

The news comes to us from Deadline, who report that (surprise, surprise) Armageddon 2419 will be an attempt to build a larger franchise. The screenplay will be written by Flint Dille, best known for his work on the original animated Transformers series, and Ed Neumeier, best known for truly great movies like the original RoboCop and Starship Troopers. Dille is actually the grandson of John F. Dille, the newspaper syndicator who helped introduce the character of Buck Rogers to a national audience.

Although Armageddon 2419 will update the vision of the future from the typical kitschy retro-futurism typically associate with the Buck Rogers character, the premise will likely remain the same. Anthony “Buck” Rogers finds himself in suspended animation following an accident and he awakes 500 years later only to find Earth torn apart by war and strife. Naturally, he gets involved. Punches are thrown, lasers are shot, etc. And since this is a 2015 movie, Rogers himself will get a grim ‘n gritty update, with the film exploring his isolation:

The Rogers character, having lost everyone he loved centuries ago, will be darker and more brooding, a fish out of water who struggles to find a way to fit in to a war-torn world.

Then again, you’d be pretty bummed if that happened to you. Brood away, Buck Rogers. Brood away.

Armageddon 2419 is still far from a sure thing. The producers plan to shop the project around to various studios to see who bites. But c’mon: someone is going to bite. Even if you remove the recognizable Buck Rogers name, this is still a dystopian sci-fi adventure and you can’t walk two steps in the film industry without tripping over one of those.