Sony Officially Reboots Starship Troopers After Helldivers Movie Announcement

Sony is working on a new reboot of the Starship Troopers franchise, with acclaimed director Neill Blomkamp at the helm. Known for films like District 9, Elysium, and Chappie, Blomkamp will write and direct this fresh take on Robert A. Heinlein's 1959 military sci-fi novel. Reports from The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, and Variety confirm this exciting development.

This new Starship Troopers film is not a sequel or related to Paul Verhoeven's 1997 cult classic sci-fi satire. Instead, it represents a new adaptation of Heinlein's original work, produced by Sony's Columbia Pictures.

The choice of Blomkamp for this project is intriguing, especially given Sony's recent announcement of a live-action adaptation of the popular PlayStation game Helldivers. Helldivers, developed by Arrowhead, draws significant inspiration from Verhoeven's Starship Troopers, featuring soldiers fighting alien bugs in a satirical fascist regime called Super Earth, all while promoting Liberty and Managed Democracy.

Sony now finds itself in the unique position of potentially releasing both a new Starship Troopers film and a Helldivers movie. However, The Hollywood Reporter clarifies that Blomkamp's version will not be a remake of Verhoeven's film but a return to the source material. Heinlein's novel, which Verhoeven's movie satirized, has a different tone and is often interpreted as promoting the very ideals the film mocks.

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