Flight of the Navigator is a 1986 comic science fiction film directed by Randal Kleiser and written by Mark H. Baker and Michael Burton, about David Freeman, a 12-year-old boy who is abducted by an alien spaceship and finds himself caught in a world that has changed around him.
The film's producers initially sent the project to Walt Disney Pictures in 1984, but as the studio was unable to approve it, it was sent to Producers Sales Organization, which made a deal with Disney to distribute it in the United States. It was partially shot in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Norway, it being a coproduction with Norwegian company Viking Film.
A 12-year-old boy goes missing in 1978, only to reappear once more in 1986. In the eight years that have passed, he hasn't aged. It is no coincidence that at the time he "comes back", a flying saucer is found, entangled in power lines.
The music score for the film was composed by Alan Silvestri. It is distinct from his other scores in being entirely electronically generated, using the Synclavier, one of the first digital synthesisers and samplers.
Flight of the Navigator was made on a budget of $9,000,000 (estimated). On its opening weekend (3rd August 1986) in the USA it grossed $3,115,097. It went on to Gross $18,564,613 in the USA alone.