After Announcing a Helldivers Movie, Sony Is Now Officially Rebooting Starship Troopers

Sony Pictures is developing a new film adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein's 1959 science fiction novel, Starship Troopers. Neill Blomkamp, director of District 9, Elysium, and Chappie, is attached to write and direct. This project, from Sony's Columbia Pictures, is a fresh adaptation of the source material and is not connected to Paul Verhoeven's 1997 satirical film of the same name.

The news of Blomkamp's involvement is intriguing, especially considering Sony's concurrent development of a Helldivers movie. Arrowhead Game Studios' Helldivers, a PlayStation Studios title, draws significant inspiration from Verhoeven's Starship Troopers, sharing similar themes of militaristic societies and insect-like alien enemies. While both projects originate from Sony, Blomkamp's Starship Troopers will be a direct adaptation of Heinlein's novel, offering a potentially contrasting tone to Verhoeven's satirical interpretation and the Helldivers adaptation. Heinlein's novel is often viewed as promoting the very ideals that Verhoeven's film cleverly satirizes.

Neither the new Starship Troopers nor the Helldivers film has a confirmed release date. Blomkamp's last directorial effort was Sony's Gran Turismo, another adaptation of a popular PlayStation franchise.