Hook is one of those movies that seems to have aged well over the years. While it wasn't well received in 1991, it's been one of those movies that has remained popular to this day. Now, one of the actors wants to revisit the story with a new prequel story. Dante Basco, the actor who played Rufio in Hook, is part of a Kickstarter in an attempt to make a short film that would tell the story of his character prior to the events of the film.
The film, which will be aptly titled Bangarang, will follow a 13-year-old boy named Roofus who is put into the foster care system when his mother realizes she can no longer take care of him. Together with a couple of other kids, Roofus will find his way out of his ill-fortune and, as we already know, find his way to Neverland. The official Kickstarter page says the film has been "reverse engineered" based on the information from Hook so that many questions will be answered, like "what the heck does Bangarang mean?" and the two stories will fit together seamlessly.
The Kickstarter page is looking for $30,000 to make the short movie and is well over halfway there already. The traditional Kickstarter rewards are fairly simple and straightforward, unlike many other campaigns. Up to the $100 reward level, you get a digital or physical copy of an autographed picture of Dante Basco as Rufio, along with a copy of the film's score and some art assets. At $250 Basco will record a voicemail message for you, either as Rufio, or as Prince Zuko, his character from Avatar: The Last Airbender. From there the reward level jumps to $1,000 and as much as $10,000, where you can get yourself a producer credit on the film and make visits to the set.
One stretch goal has already been set out for the production. The page says that if they receive $200,000 they will make Bangarang a feature film, rather than a short.
One other thing the production team is using the Kickstarter page for is as an open casting call. The page gives basic descriptions of the sorts of young actor's they're looking for, along with small pieces of the script for any young actors who would like to audition. Anybody is the Los Angeles area is welcome to audition,
It's an interesting idea that fans of Hook will certainly be interested in becoming part of. While Hook is far from a perfect film it is a fun movie with great performances from the likes of Dustin Hoffman in the title role and the late Robin Williams playing the aged Peter Pan.
With over three weeks left in its funding period, and well over half of the money already raised there's a good chance that Bangarang will reach its minimum funding level at the very least.
