A New Starship Troopers Movie Could Happen, but Maybe Don’t Hold Your Breath

First things first: do we really need a new take on Starship Troopers? Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 adaptation of Robert Heinlein’s classic 1959 novel has become a classic in its own right, satirizing ideas about fascism and the military-industrial complex with a uniquely potent cheekiness. It also gave us Neil Patrick Harris as a psychic who talks to alien bugs, Denise Richards as a kick-ass starship pilot, and Michael Ironside as a grizzled yet fierce squad leader—plus squishy violence, weird sports, and quotable lines galore.

With 1997’s Starship Troopers creeping back into pop-culture consciousness last year thanks to Helldivers 2, it makes sense that Hollywood would want to capitalize with a new film version. As the Hollywood Reporter has revealed, Columbia has tapped Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium, Chappie) to write and direct.

Sci-fi is certainly an arena Blomkamp is well familiar with, though his last two features were outside the genre: 2021 horror film Demonic and 2023 sports drama Gran Turismo. But since his breakthrough with 2009’s District 9, he’s also been associated with a few high-profile projects that didn’t end up getting off the ground, including entries in the Alien and RoboCop franchises. (RoboCop, which was also directed by Paul Verhoeven, is now slated to become a Prime Video streaming series.)

However, the past is the past, and Blomkamp may yet find his next sci-fi success in the far-future setting of Starship Troopers. And it sounds like for all the fans of the 1997 movie, this new project will represent a fresh spin on Heinlein’s story; as THR notes, “Blomkamp’s take is not a remake of the Verhoeven movie, and sources say the goal is to go back to the source material.”

What do you think about a new Starship Troopers? Add your own “Would you like to know more?” joke here, if you must.

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