Clooney embarked on the project as an executive producer, along with his partner at Smokehouse Pictures, Grant Heslov. The project is being developed as a potential vehicle for the stars, although insiders insist that there is currently no acting agreement in place.
Clooney and Heslov joined Don Murphy and Susan Montford of Angry Films, whose credits include Transformers and Real steel, to produce together with Flint Dille, grandson of Buck Rogers’ original creator.
Rogers’ character first appeared in a story entitled Armageddon 2419 and published in a 1928 edition of the main pulp, Incredible stories. Written by Philip Francis Nowlan, the story of a man trapped in a coal mine during a landslide, falls into suspended animation and the style of Rip Van Winkle wakes up almost 500 years in the future. There, he is enlisted to help wage war between various gangs in what was once America.
Rogers was turned into a comic book – simply titled Buck Rogers – in 1929 by John F. Dille Co., with which the character’s popularity exploded across the country. Soon, toys, radio plays, comics and a series of films starring Buster Crabbe followed.
The last time Rogers was featured on the screen was in the late 1970s with the NBC short series Buck Rogers in the 25th century who starred Gil Gerard and Erin Gray. The series featured a helper robot called Twiki and a talking computer called Dr. Teópolis.
Clooney’s Midnight sky, a science fiction thriller he directed, starred in and produced, which debuted on Netflix in December.
He is represented by the CAA.