Duncan Jones Sci-Fi Film ROGUE TROOPER Casts Hayley Atwell, Sean Bean, Aneurin Barnard, and Jack Lowden
Duncan Jones (Moon, Mute, Warcraft) is finally moving forward with his animated sci-fi film project Rogue Trooper, which was originally announced six years ago. He has cast that film’s leads, including Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter), Aneurin Barnard (Dunkirk), and Jack Lowden (Dunkirk).
Other cast members include Jemaine Clement (Eagle Vs. Shark), Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows), Diane Morgan (Cunk on Earth), Alice Lowe (Black Mirror), Asa Butterfield (Sex Education, Enders Game), Sean Bean (Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings), Daryl McCormack (Bad Sisters) and Reece Shearsmith (Saltburn).
Rogue Trooper 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 stars as the eponymous Rogue Trooper.
The film is being created with Epic’s 3D tool Unreal Engine 5, and Jones adapted the film from the comic book published by 2000 AD, which is behind comics such as Judge Dredd. Rogue Trooper was created by artist Dave Gibbons (Watchmen, Kingsman) and writer Gerry Finley-Day (Dan Dare). Treehouse Digital is creating all imagery and animation for the film.
Jones said 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.'”
Producer Stuart Fenegan said: “The advancements in Unreal Engine 5 and the inclusion of MetaHuman rigs mean that it is now possible to achieve a very high standard of animation within an indie budget. Working with our amazing partners at Rebellion, Epic and Treehouse Digital we are pioneering and developing a new creative pipeline that will enable independent production of CG animated films.”
Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley, who is a producer on the movie, added: “’Rogue Trooper’ highlights Rebellion’s leading position within the entertainment industries. It has been filmed at our dedicated Oxfordshire film studios and combines beautiful storytelling from our iconic 2000 AD comic-book universe with animation and production technology from the video game industry. We cannot wait for everyone to see these incredible stories brought to life on screen.”
Jones previously talked about wanting to take on this project, saying: "But I kinda feel like where my heart lies, if I were gonna go in the comic book direction, it would be in the British stuff just because I am British. So 2000 AD where Judge Dredd came from, has an amazing cast of characters. And I think if I were ever gonna do a comic book character, it would probably be one of those.”
He added: "Dredd was great, but there are like Slaine, and Rogue Trooper, and all of these amazing British characters that are over here, people don’t know about. So if I can find a way to get the budget to do one of those, which is difficult because they’re not known about… Those would be amazing movies, it’s just because they’re not known about. How do we make that work? But we’ll see. I would rather focus on trying to do a 2000 AD character."
Rogue Trooper has wrapped principal photography at Rebellion Film Studios in the U.K. The film is set to be finished next year.
Source: Variety