Flight of the Navigator is a 1986 American science-fiction adventure film directed by Randal Kleiser and written by Mark H. Baker, Michael Burton, and Phil Joanou. It stars Joey Cramer as David Freeman, a 12-year-old boy abducted by an alien spaceship who, as an unfortunate side-effect, is transported eight years into the future. It features an early film appearance by Sarah Jessica Parker as Carolyn McAdams, a key character in the future whom David befriends. The film's producers initially sent the project to Walt Disney Pictures in 1984, but the studio was unable to approve it, and it was sent to Producers Sales Organization, which made a deal with Disney to distribute it in the United States.