The Creator of This Beloved '80s Movie Turned Down Steven Spielberg and Seth Rogen’s Remake Pitch

The Last Starfighter is a beloved 1980s classic, a fun sci-fi adventure that leaned heavily into the popularity of arcade games and the nascent use of computer graphics for its special effects, to create and bring something unique to movie theaters. It was a modest success on release and has gained that coveted cult classic status since then. Strangely, it’s a film that has never seen a sequel or a remake… but not for lack of effort. Even Hollywood heavyweight Steven Spielberg was turned down by the film’s writer, Jonathan R. Betuel, one of many whom the writer has rejected.

‘The Last Starfighter’ Sets Up a Sequel

As Betuel himself explains, the inspiration for The Last Starfighter is twofold. On the one hand, he was fascinated by watching a young boy playing a video game in an arcade, a pastime familiar to any child of the ’80s. On the other hand, he was reading “The Once and Future King,” a novel based on the legend of King Arthur. He envisioned the film as a modern update on the latter, with a video game serving as a metaphorical “sword in the stone,” with his Arthur a boy who racks up a high score, one that serves to prepare him for a higher calling as part of an alien defense corps in an intergalactic war.

That vision, of course, became The Last Starfighter, a film that follows a teenager by the name of Alex Rogan (Lance Guest), who lands the high score in the titular arcade game. The arcade game is one of many spread throughout the universe, a secret simulation test to find the best warriors to pilot Gunstar spacecraft in defense of the peaceful Rylan Star League against the evil Ko-Dan Empire. He’s approached by Centauri (Robert Preston), an alien in disguise, and agrees to go with him. In an effort to keep his absence from being discovered, Centauri leaves behind Beta (also Guest), a doppelgänger android. As Beta fills in for Alex on Earth, Alex is introduced to his partner, Grig (Dan O’Herlihy), a reptilian alien who will serve as “Navigator,” the pilot of their Gunstar craft, while Alex serves as “Starfighter,” the gunner.

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The stirring scenes of space battle, the interactions between Alex, Centauri, and Grig, and the often hilarious scenes of Beta trying his best to replicate Alex’s behaviors elevated The Last Starfighter above the typical entries of the genre at the time, like 1983’s Space Raiders. And at the end of the film, Alex, proclaimed the savior of Rylos, stops by Earth with Grig and Centauri in their Gunstar, landing in the trailer park Alex calls home. He says goodbye to his family, choosing to return to Rylos and help rebuild the Starfighter legion. He’s accompanied by his girlfriend, Maggie (Catherine Mary Stewart), who accepts his invitation to join him. As the ship takes off, Alex’s brother Louis (Chris Hebert) runs for the Starfighter game, looking to master the game and join his brother. It’s an easy setup for a sequel, with the Rogan brothers reuniting down the road to face a larger threat.

Jonathan Betuel Says No to Steven Spielberg and Seth Rogen Remaking ‘The Last Starfighter’

So, why hasn’t there been a sequel, or even a remake using today’s state-of-the-art effects? It’s complicated. In 2015, a retrospective of the film by Jordan Zakarin revealed the struggle between two different studios regarding the film’s rights. Universal Pictures distributed the film, but didn’t make the film. The studio that made the film was Lorimar Productions, and in 1989, Lorimar was purchased by powerhouse rival Warner Bros. Screenwriter Gary Whitta summed up the issue, in the previously cited Collider, saying that whenever the conversation turns to The Last Starfighter, executives throw up their hands, saying, “We looked into it — there’s no way to get the rights; we don’t understand but can’t get them.”

But the biggest complication in greenlighting a sequel or remake to The Last Starfighter has less to do with the studio rights than one might think. Per Collider, Seth Rogen had initially tried getting the rights, eventually giving up after repeatedly being denied. But Rogen, no offense, is not Spielberg, and if anyone had the chutzpah and clout to wrestle the rights to the film, it would be him. It would not be him, with Rogen revealing on a Twitter thread, “Spielberg himself told me he couldn’t get the rights after I told him how long I’d tried.” But it wasn’t Universal or Warner Bros. that said no to the iconic director, but rather the writer himself, Jonathan R. Betuel. Apparently, Beutel vetoed the sale of the rights to Spielberg and, most likely, Rogen as well, choosing to move forward with his own plans for a potential continuation. It wouldn’t be the only time that Spielberg has been denied when pursuing a film project, with his interest in directing a James Bond stymied by Bond producer Cubby Broccoli, who simply said, “No.”

Betuel is well within his rights, of course, and it’s almost refreshing to see someone who so stubbornly insists on holding on to their own creation in spite of the interest from renowned filmmakers like Spielberg and Rogen. But it does beg the question of whether The Last Starfighter should even be remade or have a sequel. Arguably, the answer, as Betuel said to Spielberg, is no. The Last Starfighter works because it is intrinsically tied to the 1980s, when video arcades ruled the landscape. It had that fantastical element to it, that playing a video game had the potential to open the door to something exciting. It’s something that doesn’t work today, when video games are so advanced and realistic that there’s nothing magic about it. It makes sense that you could apply the skills from your PS5 to real life, and The Last Starfighter doesn’t work without that element. It’s the same as a film like WarGames, where a kid hacking a U.S. military supercomputer was still amazing in the 1980s, but less so when anyone with an iPhone has the potential to do the same. Betuel may have said no to Steven Spielberg, but he gave a resounding yes to artistic integrity, and that still means something.

The Last Starfighter is available to rent or buy on VOD services.