‘Starship Troopers’ Reboot now in the works, ‘Baywatch’ movie writer will write the script

The 1997 sci-fi movie is coming back to the big screen. This time however, a different "Starship Troopers" can be expected.

It was known from The Hollywood Reporter that Columbia Pictures is rebooting "Starship Troopers" with the writers for the upcoming "Baywatch" movie, with Zac Efron and Dwayne Johnson, to write the script. The studio had agreed with Mark Swift and Damian Shannon that the script for the movie will be based from the original story by Robert A. Heinlein.

"Starship Troopers" is a military sci-fi novel written by the American author Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1959. The novel was about a young soldier named Juan "Johnny" Rico, set in the future, who advances from recruit to non-commissioned officer and eventually to officer, during the war between mankind and the alien bugs.

The book made a following, however, director of the 1997 film adaptation of "Starship Troopers" hated it, according to Slash Film. Paul Verhoeven, the film's director took some of the ideas of the book and made a satire approach of the novel's fascism and militarism. The 1997 movie starred Denise Richards, Casper Van Dien and Neil Patrick Harris.

The movie received a mixed review during its release but it had gained a cult following and inspired sequels. Rebooting the movie and making it as close to the original story as it can be, the studio is hoping for a potential franchise for "Starship Troopers".

Neil H. Moritz, the producer of the "Fast & Furious" franchise, will also produce the reboot together with Toby Jaffe. The film producer Matthew Milam is said to oversee production for the studio.

There are no updates of the major casts yet but the production staff had already made it clear that no personnel from the 1997 "Starship Troopers" is involved. Filming dates have not yet been announced but casting directors are already looking for actors to fill for extras and feature roles.