A cult 1990s sci-fi film is getting rebooted with key differences

Starship Troopers is based on a 1959 novel about a futuristic army at war with an alien race

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, it 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, and 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.

Neill Blomkamp photographed in January 2023 (AFP via Getty Images)

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.

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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.