The HELLDIVERS Movie Gets Pushed to 2028, Giving Alan Ritchson More Time to Prepare for War
The fight for Super Earth is going to have to wait. Sony has pushed its Helldivers movie out of 2027, moving the video game adaptation from November 10, 2027 to June 9, 2028.
That’s a pretty substantial delay for fans eager to see the chaotic sci-fi action of the games make the jump to the big screen, but considering what’s been happening with the project lately, giving the movie more time could work in its favor.
Sony has filled the vacated November slot with Ridley Scott’s Treasure Island, which will now open November 11, 2027 and stars Hugh Jackman as Long John Silver.
As for Helldivers, the movie recently went through a major casting change. Jason Momoa exited the project earlier this year, and Alan Ritchson, best known for starring in Reacher, has stepped in to replace him after previously being reported as in talks for the role.
That’s a major change for a movie that had apparently been developed with Momoa very specifically in mind. Director Justin Lin previously talked about why he thought Momoa was the guy for the job, saying:
"Helldivers balances satire with humanity... and the only person who I think can pull this off is Jason Momoa," Well, plans changed, and let’s be honest… Momoa was never the only person that could pull off this movie. That’s all hype talk.
Ritchson feels like a pretty natural replacement, though. Anyone who has watched Reacher already knows he can convincingly bulldoze his way through an action sequence, but he’s also capable of playing comedy without turning the character into a joke. That combination could fit nicely with the ridiculous militaristic satire and massive sci-fi warfare of Helldivers.
Switching out your lead actor isn’t exactly a minor adjustment, particularly when the director previously described that actor as essential to what he wanted to accomplish. Giving Lin and his team additional time to rework whatever needs changing around Ritchson seems preferable to racing toward the original release date.
There’s still plenty we don’t know about the Helldivers movie. Sony is keeping the plot under wraps, although it’s expected to draw from Helldivers 2, which throws players into an intergalactic war as elite soldiers fight to protect Super Earth from alien enemies.
The game’s combination of huge battles, ridiculous propaganda, friendly-fire disasters, expendable soldiers, and pitch-black satire gives the filmmakers a lot to play with.
Getting the tone right may be just as important as delivering the action. Helldivers shouldn’t simply become another expensive movie about soldiers shooting aliens. The absurdity is a huge part of why the games work.
Ritchson is coming off Reacher Season 4, which recently wrapped its run on Prime Video, and now he has a very different kind of war ahead of him.
Waiting until June 2028 isn’t ideal, but if the extra time helps Lin successfully reshape the movie around its new star and nail what makes Helldivers so much fun, the delay could be worth it. For Super Earth, obviously.