One of the most influential sci-fi novels of all time is getting another crack at a big-screen adaptation. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it appears that District 9 director Neill Blomkamp will be reimagining Robert A. Heinlein’s classic 1959 novel Starship Troopers for Sony/Columbia Pictures. A previous version came out back in 1997, directed by RoboCop and Total Recall director Paul Verhoeven. This movie was a modest success at the time, but has since developed quite a cult following. This new version won’t be a remake of the 1997 film. Instead, they are going back to the original novel for inspiration.
The original Hugo-award-winning novel told the story of an interplanetary war between Earth and a species of insectoid aliens. The main character in the novel is Johnny Rico, an exemplary soldier in the United Citizen Federation mobile infantry. The novel has come under fire over the years for its seeming fetishization of fascist ideologies. When Paul Verhoeven made this film right after the disastrous Showgirls, he chose to make it a satire of military propaganda films. Specifically, those produced by the United States during World War II. Sadly, his satirical approach went over the heads of many moviegoers back in the day.
James Cameron’s Aliens was also heavily influenced by the original novel. Especially as that film has a squad of Colonial Marines going on a “bug hunt” against the Xenomorphs, who are vaguely insectoid. A few years back, Blomkamp was developing a direct sequel to Aliens, that would have brought back Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, and Michael Biehn as Hicks, ignoring the other films in the franchise. That version never got off the ground, but we can’t help but wonder if some aspects of that project will find their way into this new adaptation. There is no production start date as of yet for this new version of Starship Troopers.