After making video game movies like the billion-dollar hit “The Minecraft Movie” (a sequel in the works at Legendary/Warner Bros.) and playing the beloved Blanka in the upcoming “Street Fighter” reboot, actor Jason Momoa has attached himself to other high-profile gaming adaptation landing a main part in Sony Pictures‘ “Helldivers” movie that will be helmed by director Justin Lin.
This big casting update on the sci-fi action film comes to us from Variety, who add that Sony has set a release date of November 10, 2027, for “Helldivers.”
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Taking a page from Paul Verhoeven‘s “Starship Troopers,” the video game features a group of military shock troops called Helldivers armed to the teeth with advanced weapons that look to clear planets of alien and A.I. threats to make way for an overt fascist human colonization effort for the fictional Super Earth. Like the movie it was seemingly inspired by, the game is very satirical tone, which could potentially lead to the film version leaning more into the realm of action comedy.
Lin’s background with genre projects feels like a perfect fit for this kind of adrenaline-fuelled IP after directing projects like “Star Trek Beyond” and multiple installments in “The Fast & The Furious” franchise, his final outing being “F9” (exiting “Fast X” over creative differences, which had Momoa playing an unhinged bad guy).
It’s quite the interesting play from Momoa to keep jumping into potential franchise roles as he’ll be stepping back into the world of DC Comics this summer, playing alien bounty hunter Lobo (his dream comic book role) in “Supergirl” and could return to that meaty part in future DCU projects (a solo “Lobo” movie had been in various development stages at WB for decades). He’s also expected to have a brief return as Duncan Idaho in Denis Villeneuve‘s “Dune: Part Three” this December (potentially may move out of the way of “Avengers: Doomsday”).
Stay tuned for more casting announcements, because with a movie like “Helldivers,” as we suspect the project will feature a rather large supporting cast opposite Momoa.
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