Last week, Duncan Jones (MUTE) took to Twitter to tease that his next film would be a comic book movie. "A little nervous about this, but hell, nervous is where the fun is!" Jones said. "I’m going to be making a comic book movie next! A pretty special one." Fans began wondering just which project Jones would be taking on, but the director returned to Twitter yesterday with another tease in the form of a video.
If that wasn't enough of a hint, Duncan Jones returned to Twitter today to confirm that the project in question would be an adaptation of Gerry Finley-Day and Dave Gibbons' 2000AD comic Rogue Trooper.
Created in 1981, Rogue Trooper follows Rogue, a genetically created, blue-skinned, super soldier fighting in a war of attrition between the Norts and Southers on the planet Nu-Earth which has been ravaged by chemical and biological weapons. Along with his three comrades, Rogue searches for the Traitor General who wiped out his entire regiment. Those three comrades come in the form of biochips which contain the entire personality of a G.I. (Genetic Infantryman) which is downloaded at the time of death. You've got Gunner (on Rogue's rifle), Bagman (on his backpack), and Helm (on his helmet). Rogue is also genetically engineered to be immune to almost all known toxins, can submerge in strong acid unaffected, and is able to withstand a vacuum in his bare skin. Neil Gaiman, who wrote for 2000AD in the past, also chimed in on Twitter to say "Finally! That's great news. Rogue Trooper was @ManMadeMoon's dream film the first time I met him, over 15 years ago…"
Duncan Jones' last film, MUTE, didn't receive the greatest reception upon its release on Netflix earlier this year, but I'm always interested to see what Jones cooks up. It's obviously still very early days on the project, so there's no telling when ROGUE TROOPER would enter production, but we'll keep you updated.
What do you think about Duncan Jones taking on ROGUE TROOPER?