There hasn’t been a new film from Duncan Jones since the sci-fi drama Mute in 2018, but that same year he began teasing his next project, an adaptation of the 2000 AD comic book, Rogue Trooper. Seven years later, and we are finally getting our first look at the animated feature, which began as a live-action movie before Jones switched gears.
Rogue Trooper is pretty wild stuff, which is par for the course from Judge Dredd publisher 2000 AD. The story centers on 19, the titular Rogue Trooper, a Genetic Infantryman on the planet Nu-Earth who is the sole survivor of an invasion. Desperate to find the traitor who sold out him and his squadmates, 19 is accompanied by three of his fallen comrades whose personalities are kept in biochips attached to his helmet, backpack, and rifle.
Interestingly, an earlier attempt by Grant Morrison to adapt Rogue Trooper was thwarted when 2011’s Dredd underperformed at the box office. Dredd is, of course, a cult classic now, but it goes to show how the performance of one movie can totally destroy another.
Aneurin Barnard leads the cast, joined by Jemaine Clement, Matt Berry, Hayley Atwell, Jack Lowden, Daryl McCormack, Reese Shearsmith, Sean Bean, Asa Butterfield, Alice Lowe, and Diane Morgan.
Jones directs and adapts the comic from Gerry Finley-Day and Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons. [Empire]
