We’ve confirmed that a new Starship Troopers is happening at Sony with District 9 filmmaker Neill Blomkamp writing and directing.
The new movie will go back to the 1959 source material by Robert A. Heinlein and not be based on the 1997 Paul Verhoeven movie. The original movie was something of a misfire at the time of release, made for $100M and only making $121.2M worldwide. Clearly, legacy has been on the military astronauts versus bugs’ side. The 1997 movie propped the careers of Denise Richards, Casper Van Dien and Jake Busey. Plot details are under wraps, but I betcha the movie is about astronauts versus bugs.
Blomkamp will produce with his wife and Chappie collaborator, Terri Tatchell.
Blomkamp has a long history with Sony having made sci-fi opuses District 9, Chappie and Elysium with the Culver City lot as well as the feature take of Sony Playstation game, Gran Turismo, which was released during the strikes and grossed over $122 million worldwide.
Blomkamp’s District 9, earned four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay for Blomkamp and co-writer Tatchell.
Starship Troopers spawned more movies: 2004’s Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation, 2008’s Starship Troopers 3: Marauder in which Van Dien reprised his role as Rico. There was also two CGI animated films: 2012’s Starship Troopers: Invasion and 2017’s Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars.
