‘Buck Rogers’ Reboot TV Series Will Star George Clooney
By Chris Evangelista/Jan. 29, 2021 9:30 am EST
Back in October 2020, it was reported that Legendary Pictures and producers Don Murphy and Susan Montford were hoping to revive classic pulp hero Buck Rogers via a film, “a prestige television series as well as an anime series, giving audiences a 360-look at heroics sets in the 25th century.” In December of that year, word came that Brian K. Vaughn had been tapped to write the script for the TV series. Now, that TV series has some major star power, as The Wrap is reporting that George Clooney will executive produce and star.
There’s no indication of where the show might end up, at least not yet. Legendary used to have a TV deal with Warner Bros., so there’s always a chance something like this could end up somewhere like HBO Max. Or it could go to streaming, like Netflix – which recently released Clooney’s film The Midnight Sky. In any case, Clooney will executive producer alongside frequent collaborator Grant Heslov via their Smokehouse banner.
Buck Rogers was created by Philip Francis Nowlan in a novella that first appeared in the Amazing Stories pulp magazine in 1928. In the original story, Buck Rogers was a U.S. Air Force pilot who awoke from a 500-year sleep, Rip Van Winkle-style, to find a very changed world. After the pulp story came a comic strip, a radio show, a film serial, and a TV series. The TV series came about after the pilot for the show was released into theaters in 1979 and became a box office hit.
Clooney is obviously no stranger to TV – he got his start in the medium, and it was the series ER that truly launched him to fame. That said, it’s interesting to see him return to TV at this stage of his career. Clooney certainly has that square-jawed pulp hero charisma about him, so he’s bound to have some fun with this role.
