Sony Officially Reboots Starship Troopers After Helldivers Movie Announcement

Sony is reportedly developing a new reboot of the iconic Starship Troopers franchise, with acclaimed director Neill Blomkamp, known for films like District 9, Elysium, and Chappie, set to helm the project. According to sources from The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, and Variety, Blomkamp will both write and direct this fresh take on Robert A. Heinlein's 1959 military sci-fi novel.

This upcoming film is not a sequel or connected to Paul Verhoeven's 1997 cult classic Starship Troopers, which was a satirical take on the original novel. Instead, Blomkamp's project will be a direct adaptation of Heinlein's work, produced under Sony's Columbia Pictures banner.

The announcement of Blomkamp's involvement comes at an interesting time, as Sony recently revealed plans for a live-action adaptation of the popular PlayStation game Helldivers, developed by Arrowhead Studios. Helldivers draws significant inspiration from Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers, featuring a similar theme of expendable soldiers fighting for a satirical fascist regime known as Super Earth, battling alien bugs and other threats while promoting Liberty and Managed Democracy.

With Sony now working on both a new Starship Troopers and a Helldivers movie, there's potential for overlap and competition. However, The Hollywood Reporter clarified that Blomkamp's film will not be a remake of Verhoeven's version but will instead focus on the source material from Heinlein’s novel, which differs significantly in tone and message from the 1997 film.

Currently, neither the new Starship Troopers nor the Helldivers movie has a confirmed release date, suggesting that fans may need to wait a while before seeing these projects come to fruition. Blomkamp's most recent work was directing Sony's Gran Turismo, an adaptation of the renowned PlayStation driving simulation series.