Los Angeles Clippers star Blake Griffin is expanding into the entertainment industry as a producer for a reboot of Disney’s “The Rocketeer”.
With his beloved commercials, wit and general sense of humor, Blake Griffin is well suited for his work on screen when he isn’t dominating on a basketball court. Kia commercials are what non NBA fans may recognize him for, he’s appeared (fully nude) on an episode of the sitcom “Broad City”, and made some hilarious BGCP3TV episodes with his Los Angeles Clippers teammate Chris Paul.
Now, Griffin is branching out into a new area of entertainment: he’s producing a film.
“The Rocketeer”, the action-adventure movie originally released in 1991, is being rebooted by Walt Disney Studios and will be simply titled “The Rocketeers”.
The Hollywood Reporter has reported Griffin’s involvement as a producer:
"Walt Disney Studios is developing a reboot of the 1991 action-adventure movie, hiring Max Winkler and Matt Spicer to pen the script, which is being titled The Rocketeers.The project, in the early development stages, is considered a sequel-reboot and, in a modern-day twist, will be headlined by a black female character.Brigham Taylor, who produced The Jungle Book with Jon Favreau, is producing along with Blake Griffin of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers and Ryan Kalil of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. Griffin and Kalil are partners in a new venture called Mortal Media and approached Taylor with the idea for the reboot."
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Pairing with Panthers center Ryan Kalil certainly means the movie’s producing team is well represented from the sports world by the duo’s Mortal Media company, giving Griffin a chance to really expand his post-NBA career opportunities if he’s making such a venture already.
The original “The Rocketeer” movie was based on the 1980s comic by Dave Stevens, a story about a stunt pilot who discovers a rocket pack and suit, later becoming involved with mobsters, Nazis and the FBI, as The Hollywood Reporter mentioned in their article.
They also discussed the synopsis for the reboot:
"The new take keeps the story in a period setting and offers a fresh view on the characters. Set six years after the original Rocketeer and after Secord has vanished while fighting the Nazis, an unlikely new hero emerges: a young African-American female pilot, who takes up the mantle of Rocketeer in an attempt to stop an ambitious and corrupt rocket scientist from stealing jet-pack technology in what could prove to be a turning point in the Cold War."
So, while Griffin certainly won’t be in front of the camera in “The Rocketeers,” we know how good he is when given the opportunity.
Just take Blake’s hilarious performance when he teamed up with CP3.
And, of course, there are always his brilliant Kia commercials.
As one of the NBA’s best actors (LeBron James was great in “Trainwreck”), and one of the better acting athletes in general, it’s not surprising that Griffin wants to expand his work in the entertainment industry.
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At some point, whether it’s in “Space Jam 2” or another sitcom, we’ll surely see Blake Griffin take to the screen again when he isn’t producing.