The pillaging of 1980s nerd culture continues! The Last Starfighter, the somewhat-known tale of a young gamer asked to step into the shoes of an alien defense force pilot, may be heading to the small screen, according to Jonathan Betuel. Back in the early 1980s, Betuel wrote The Last Starfighter, which ended up being helmed by Nick Castle and released in theaters in 1984. The film was soon after adopted as a cult item by die-hards of science fiction and fantasy, as well as droves upon droves of video-game enthusiasts. As Variety reports, Beteul is quick to mention that the reboot will be more about "instilling a moral code" than the original, which made a minor star of B-movie character actor Lance Guest, who you may remember from Halloween 2 and Jaws: The Revenge.

Alex's dog fights and interactions with the Centauri, however, may look a bit different this time, as Betuel has also confirmed that he's working with virtual reality entertainment firm Surreal to add scenes filmed for virtual reality consoles, meant to be melded into the viewing experience. It's apropos, as the original The Last Starfighter utilized computer-generated visual effects, one of the very first widely released films to do so. Do yourself a favor and try to ignore the leaps and bounds we've made in visual effects when you revisit the film, but the film itself still has its charms, not the least of which being the sheer unlikeliness of the plot. Betuel didn't admit to having any major backers or distributors aligned beyond Surreal's involvement, but he's clearly passionate to bring Alex's story to a new audience.

Here's the trailer for the 1984 original:

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