Latest news with #Blomkamp
The Guardian
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Is Hollywood really going to ditch the anti-fascist satire in its Starship Troopers remake?
If there is a modern day equivalent in Hollywood to Dutch director Paul Verhoeven, he or she must be hiding in the nearest underground space bunker, desperately praying that irony makes a comeback. Verhoeven arrived at a time when transgressive 'video nasties' were just fading into irrelevance, a period in which filmgoers were just as likely to head to the cinemas for schlocky thrills as they were for biting sci-fi allegory. With films such as 1987's RoboCop, 1990's Total Recall and 1997's Starship Troopers, Verhoeven managed to combine a high-energy, hyper-kinetic thrust that has rarely been achieved since. He remains one of the most subversive and controversial film-makers of his generation – which is why it's so depressing that Hollywood keeps churning out substandard remakes of his best work. Neither José Padilha's 2014 revamp of RoboCop nor Len Wiseman's dry and listless 2012 reworking of Total Recall will be remembered by anyone not personally involved in those insipid productions. Which is perhaps why long-gestating plans to remake Starship Troopers, Verhoeven's hyper-stylised and super-satirical adaptation of the fascistic 1950s space war novel by Robert A Heinlein, have so far failed to make it past first star base. Studios have been trying to rework this thing since at least 2016. The latest attempt, according to the Hollywood Reporter, will see District 9's Neill Blomkamp, once the coming man of sci-fi, taking the reins. You might think that Blomkamp, with his flair for gritty dystopia and penchant for socially conscious sci-fi carnage, would be the perfect film-maker to reignite the spirit of gleeful nihilism that infected Verhoeven's best work from the 80s and 90s. And you wouldn't be far off, except that studio Sony, AKA Columbia Pictures, appears to have decided (according to reports) that the only way to bring this one back to the big screen is to jettison the subversive tone and instead lean in to the Riefenstahlian chest-thumping militarism of the original source novel by Heinlein. Is this the legacy of Trump's return to power infecting Hollywood boardrooms in 2025? Have the studios really decided that the smartest way to reboot Starship Troopers is to just go all in on the laser-soaked Nazi space opera vibes? Heinlein's 1959 novel is all about a society in which people need to get battling the alien space bugs that are threatening Earth quick sharp or face a future without voting rights, basic human dignity or the faintest hint of a social safety net – because nothing says 'civic duty' quite like strapping on a flamethrower and mowing down intergalactic cockroaches to prove you're worthy of democracy. It's hard not to imagine Verhoeven wondering how his cynical parody of militaristic nationalism ended up being remade as a sincere recruitment video for totalitarian space marines. Moreover, why get Blomkamp involved if this is the plan? Is he really the right director to helm a fascist fantasy epic when his entire career has been built on scrappy, anti-establishment sci-fi that makes you want to riot against the nearest dystopian overlord? Is Blomkamp just a bit desperate to get back on the Hollywood hype machine after 10 years spent regretting Elysium and Chappie (and making occasional mournful posts about how much he would really really like to make an Alien film)? Or is he just so fed up with being the poster boy for gritty, socially conscious sci-fi that he's decided to throw caution to the wind and cash the cheque? We'll no doubt find out if this latest attempt to remake Verhoeven's classic actually reaches the stratosphere. In the meantime, let's all sit back and remind ourselves that the real genius of Starship Troopers was precisely in making a film so dazzlingly dumb on the surface that entire generations of rightwing knuckleheads have apparently watched it without realising they're the punchline.
See - Sada Elbalad
15-03-2025
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
"Starship Troopers" Reboot in Works
Yara Sameh Neill Blomkamp is attached to write and direct a new film adaptation of 'Starship Troopers,' the 1959 sci-fi novel by Robert A. Heinlein that was last memorably brought to theaters in 1997 by director Paul Verhoeven. The new project comes from Sony's Columbia Pictures. While exact plot details remain closely guarded, the new 'Starship Troopers' is said to draw inspiration from Heinlein's original military story, rather than pulling from the fascist send-up that characterized Verhoeven's satirical adaptation. Along with writing and directing, Blomkamp is producing with his longtime collaborator Terri Tatchell. The project marks a reunion for the director and the studio. Sony last recruited Blomkamp for 'Gran Turismo,' a film adaptation of the racing video game franchise that originated in the company's PlayStation division. Released in August 2023, the film grossed $120 million in worldwide theatrical sales against a $60 million production budget. Blomkamp's defining feature remains his 2009 debut, 'District 9,' an immigration parable set among a colony of aliens in South Africa. That film earned four Oscar nominations, including picture and adapted screenplay for Blomkamp and Tatchell. Blomkamp went on to forge his brand in realistic, socially minded sci-fi with two follow-ups: the Matt Damon action spectacle 'Elysium' and the tale of a Die Antwoord-raised swaggy robot 'Chappie.' The original 'Starship Troopers' adaptation was a significant investment by Sony's TriStar Pictures in 1997, sporting a production budget higher than $100 million, impressive miniatures, cutting-edge effects work and a then-rising cast that included names like Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards and Neil Patrick Harris. The movie was widely seen as a theatrical disappointment, grossing just $121 million worldwide, but it has gained reputation as a cult film for its hyper-violent parody of a fascist society. Home media sales were strong enough to spawn two lower budget, direct-to-video sequels: 'Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation' in 2004, and 'Starship Troopers 3: Marauder' in 2008. A pair of animated follow-ups came after: 'Starship Troopers: Invasion' in 2012 and 'Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars' in 2017. Reports of plans for a new adaptation of Heinlein's novel emerged over a decade ago, but the attachment of Blomkamp marks a significant development.
The Independent
15-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
A cult 1990s sci-fi film is getting rebooted with key differences
A reboot of the 1990s cult classic sci-fi film Starship Troopers is in the works with District 9's Neill Blomkamp set to write and direct the new version of the film which will feature some key differences. The original Starship Troopers, made by Dutch provocateur Paul Verhoeven, with Denise Richards, Neil Patrick Harris and Casper Van Dien in leading roles, was critically panned upon release and struggled at the box office, making just $120m against its $100m budget. In the years since has been reappraised, with fans appreciating its satirical take on the military and right-wing politics, which some viewers still miss. Deadline reports that Sony is distributing the new film with Blomkamp directing, with his wife, Terri Tatchell, also working as a producer. The report states that this adaptation will differ from Verhoeven's and is likely to stick closer to the source material. The 1959 novel of the same name by Robert A. Heinlein is a book deeply political in its themes, telling the story of a young soldier named Juan "Johnnie" Rico and his time with the Mobile Infantry, a futuristic military service fighting in an interstellar war against an alien species known as "the Bugs". Heinlein's writing was filled with moral and philosophical discussions of suffrage, civic virtue, juvenile delinquency, corporal punishment, capital punishment, and war; though it's attracted its fair share of controversy by critics who believe the novel promotes both militarism and fascism in the depiction of its futuristic society, which Verhoeven took heavy aim at in his satirisation. There are numerous differences between the novel and the film too. In the book, the lead character of Johnnie is of Filipino descent, whereas in Verhoeven's the character is a white American. Verhoeven used a mostly white cast but the society in the book is portrayed as diverse and multi-ethnic. Another small change was the lack of mechanised battle suits that the soldiers wore, which was removed due to budget constraints. Mark Swift and Damian Shannon, the writing duo behind the Baywatch movie, were attached to a planned reboot in 2016 with the potential for relaunching Starship Troopers as a full-on franchise. The first Starship Troopers did spawn two straight-to-video sequels: Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004) and Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008). There were also two animated films: Starship Troopers: Invasion (2012) and Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars (2017). Blomkamp's last film, a dramatised take on the racing game Gran Turismo, received mixed reviews from critics and made $122m at the box office.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'District 9' director Neill Blomkamp enlists for new 'Starship Troopers' movie
Neill Blomkamp is doing his part. The District 9 filmmaker is working on a new Starship Troopers movie for Sony's Columbia Pictures division, Entertainment Weekly has confirmed. The film will be a new adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein's 1959 novel rather than a direct remake of Paul Verhoeven's 1997 movie, which followed a group of young recruits who go to war against alien "bugs." In addition to directing, Blomkamp is writing the screenplay and will produce alongside Terri Tatchell, his wife and frequent collaborator. The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news. Blomkamp's previous films like District 9 and Elysium featured strong sociopolitical commentary channeled through a sci-fi lens, which makes the filmmaker an intriguing successor to Verhoeven, who put a satirical spin on Heinlein's material. Related: Starship Troopers cast remembers the film's 'lousy reception' before becoming cult classic However, it remains unclear exactly what Blomkamp's angle on Starship Troopers will be, because if he's not remaking or rebooting Verhoeven's work, and instead returning to Heinlein's original novel, that means the project might lack the ironic detachment of the 1997 movie. Heinlein's book has been the subject of some controversy, as its ardent militarism and unsympathetic rendering of alien antagonists have been widely described as fascist. Verhoeven himself took major issue with Heinlein's viewpoint, and sought to make his adaptation a satire of the original book. "It is really quite a bad book," the Dutch filmmaker told Empire in 2020. "It's a very right-wing book. And with the movie we tried, and I think at least partially succeeded, in commenting on that at the same time. It would be eat your cake and have it. All the way through we were fighting with the fascism, the ultra-militarism. All the way through I wanted the audience to be asking, 'Are these people crazy?'" Verhoeven's film didn't strongly connect with audiences upon its initial release, making $121 million at the global box office on a budget that exceeded $100 million. However, the movie has gained a cult following and spawned a number of sequel and spinoff projects, including the 2004 TV movie Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation, the 2008 direct-to-video sequel Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, and two direct-to-video anime sequels. Related: Starship Troopers cast: Where are they now? Word of the new film comes in the wake of the massive popularity of Helldivers 2, a 2024 video game that has drawn frequent comparisons to Starship Troopers due to its alien bug villains, satirical tone, and futuristic setting. This isn't the first time Blomkamp has signed on for a Verhoeven-adjacent project. He was previously tapped to helm a RoboCop sequel in 2018, but departed the following year. Related: Sigourney Weaver says the 'ship has sailed' on her playing Ripley in Alien sequel: 'I put in my time in space' Blomkamp recently directed Gran Turismo, a racing drama based on the PlayStation video game franchise of the same name. He had previously attempted to helm an Alien sequel starring Sigourney Weaver that was ultimately shelved. Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
