A new film from Duncan Jones is always something to get intrigued about—even if one tends to hope said film is more Moon, less Mute. And Jones’ latest project sounds quite fascinating: It’s an animated adaptation of Rogue Trooper, the graphic novel series created by Gerry Finley-Day and Dave Gibbons (Watchmen). The cast includes Hayley Atwell (Captain America, pictured above) alongside star Aneurin Barnard (1899)—and also features Jack Lowden (Slow Horses), Reece Shearsmith (Foundation), Daryl McCormack (The Wheel of Time), Jemaine Clement (What We Do in the Shadows, movie version), Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows, TV version), Diane Morgan (Cunk on Earth), Asa Butterfield (Hugo), and Sean Bean (famous for dying in everything).
Rogue Trooper, according to Variety, “tells the story of 19, a ‘Genetic Infantryman,’ who finds himself the sole-survivor of an 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.”
Barnard plays 19; the roles of the rest of the cast have not been specified.
Rogue Trooper is published by 2000 AD, which is well-known for publishing Judge Dredd. Variety quotes Jones as saying, “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.”
Principal photography on the film is done, but Variety notes that it is not expected to be finished until next year.
