Starship Troopers is being rebooted with hopes that it will launch a new franchise.
The 1997 original, directed by Paul Verhoeven, was an adaptation of Robert A Heinlein’s novel which, according to the Hollywood Reporter, will act as the more direct source of the new version.
The script will come from Mark Swift and Damian Shannon, who have also written the upcoming Baywatch movie. It’ll be produced by Neal H Moritz, whose credits include Sweet Home Alabama and Battle Los Angeles.
Verhoeven’s film, which starred Casper van Dien and Denise Richards, received critical acclaim for its surprising satire but was a disappointment at the box office, making just $121m worldwide from a $105m budget. It spawned three sequels, without the director’s involvement which didn’t receive a theatrical release. Verhoeven’s other sci-fi hits Robocop and Total Recall have also been remade, receiving disastrous reviews.
“Somehow they seem to think that the lightness of say Total Recall and Robocop is a hindrance,” Verhoeven said about the remakes in an interview. “So they take these somewhat absurd stories and make them much too serious … Both those movies needed the distance of satire or comedy to situate it for audiences. Playing it straight without any humor is a problem and not an improvement.”
