The 30th anniversary of directorPaul Verhoeven‘sStarship Trooperswill arrive in 2027, but now there’s a chance that a new take on the franchise could arrive that year or soon after. Neill Blomkamp, the Oscar-nominated co-writer and director ofDistrict 9, has signed on to tackle aStarship Troopersreboot movie.
According toThe Hollywood Reporter, Blomkamp will write and direct the newStarship Troopersfor Sony’s Columbia Pictures. Blomkamp’s wife — and the co-writer ofDistrict 9andChappie— Terri Tatchell will also produce the film with her husband. However, the newStarship Trooperswill not be following in the footsteps of Verhoeven’s satirical take on the story. Instead, Blomkamp reportedly plans to bring the film more in line with the original 1959 Hugo Award-winning novel by Robert A. Heinlein.
TheStarship Troopersnovel had a huge influence on the sci-fi genre with its depiction of an intergalactic war between humanity and massive alien bugs from space. Aspects of Heinlein’s story have also been described as fascist, in part because of the overly militaristic perspective and other plot elements that include people having to serve the government or join the military in order to gain full rights as a citizen.
If Blomkamp is planning to ditch the signature satire used in Verhoeven’s film, it will be surprising since his best movie,District 9, had satirical elements of its own. Blomkamp has made three sci-fi movies to date, includingChappieandElysium, but several of his projects haven’t come to fruition. Blomkamp developed legacy sequels for bothAlienandRoboCop, neither of which moved forward. Blomkamp’s most recent film wasGran Turismo, which was loosely based on a true story about Jann Mardenborough, who trained to become a professional racer after learning his craft by playing theGran Turismogame.
Despite earning only $121 million worldwide against a budget that was reportedly $101-110 million,Starship Troopersbecame a cult favorite after its 1997 release. Several direct-to-video sequels have been made, and it has even extended into the realm of video games withStarship Troopers: Extermination. Casper Van Dien reprised his leading role as Johnny Rico for two of the follow-up films, and inExtermination.
