Have they already shot Rogue Trooper? It would appear so. How so fast? Why so quietly? Well, it turns out that it was originally going to be live-action but instead is now an Unreal Engine 5 production, making it computer-animated.
Hayley Atwell (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning), Jack Lowden (Slow Horses), Aneurin Barnard (Dunkirk), and Reece Shearsmith (Saltburn) are still leading the cast, alongside Sean Bean, Asa Butterfield, Matt Berry, Jemaine Clement, Diane Morgan and Alice Lowe.
The Rebellion and Liberty Films production is directed by Duncan Jones (Source Code, Moon, Warcraft). It is based on the famed British 2000 AD comics story Rogue Trooper.
The story in the comics begins on the planet Nu-Earth, where a war of attrition between two factions, the Norts and Southers, is being fought. The Norts are a fascist society, while the Southers are democratic.
There are similarities and occasional references to past Earth conflicts including the American Civil War and both World Wars, with the Norts resembling Germany, and the Southers the Allied forces.
During the conflict, the use of chemical and biological weapons has poisoned the planet. As a result, what remains of the population of the planet, including the troops of both sides, live in enclosed domed military bases and habitats. They wear protective suits, helmets, and respiration gear when outside their domes. These suits are known as “chemsuits”. Any damage to the helmet or chemsuit is usually fatal to the wearer.
In an attempt to bring an end to the stalemate, the Southern High Command created the GI, or “Genetic Infantryman”. The GI is a soldier genetically engineered to be immune to the poisonous atmosphere of Nu-Earth, and therefore be able to fight without chemsuits. The Southern High Command deploys the entire GI Regiment in a mass spaceborne capsule drop over an area known as “The Quartz Zone”, which resembles one of the Earth’s Poles because the surface has an icy, glacier-like nature.
Things do not go according to plan, kicking off the events of the comic. This then follows ’19’, a genetic infantryman and sole survivor of the invasion force. Desperate to track down the traitor who sold him and his comrades out, the super soldier is accompanied by three killed-in-action squad mates, whose personalities have been stored in his gun, helmet, and rucksack.
Jones has adapted from Dave Gibbons and Gerry Finley-Day’s original 2000 AD comic, and reports say filming has just wrapped at Rebellion Film Studios in the U.K. and the movie is now being completed in post.
Jones spoke about the property in a statement:
“2000 AD offers a very different flavor of comic action: Political and brutal at times, but always with a Pythonesque twinkle in the eye. Dredd (2012) was a taste of what 2000 AD has to offer and now we get to show the world another side of the beast. It is a genuine privilege to be given the opportunity to make Rogue Trooper.”
Treehouse Digital is the VFX house now working on completing the project.
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