Bryce Dallas Howard To Direct ‘Flight Of The Navigator’ Reboot In Her Feature Debut

Continuing her streak of being a multi-hyphenate, actor-director Bryce Dallas Howard is set to direct her debut feature for Disney+. The film will be a reimagining of the 80s hit, Flight of the Navigator, featuring a female protagonist.

The original film, released in 1986, follows 12-year-old David (Joey Cramer), who finds himself eight years in the future, with no recollection of how he came to be there. Directed by Randal Kleiser, better known for directing Grease, the family sci-fi adventure movie grossed $18.6m at the domestic box office.

Disney have attempted newer versions of the film in the past, but none of them have come to fruition. Most famously, in 2012, Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connelly were attached to rewrite an existing script, but rights issues prevented this and the project collapsed.

While this marks Howard’s feature directorial debut, she has already worked with Disney+, having directed two episodes of The Mandalorian. She has also previously directed a number of short films and a documentary, Dads, for Apple TV+. She will produce this new film alongside Justin Springer and John Swartz. The latter is also her partner at production company Nine Muses.

Howard is more commonly known in front of the camera, most famously in the Jurassic World films. Her acting credits also include The Help, Spiderman 3, Rocketman and The Village.

In her new ventures, she follows the path of her father Ron Howard. The senior Howard initially made a name for himself playing Richie on the classic TV show Happy Days, before eventually transitioning from acting to directing full-time. His directorial credits include Rush, Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director. Like his daughter, Ron Howard has also directed within the Star Wars universe, helming 2017’s Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Bryce Dallas Howard’s directorial work can be seen next in the upcoming Disney+ series, The Book of Boba Fett. She will also be reprising her role as Claire Dearing in the final instalment of the Jurassic World trilogy, Jurassic World: Dominion, next summer.

Words by Rehana Nurmahi

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