Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions have been moving relatively fast on the Helldivers movie adaptation announced back in January 2025, securing Fast & Furious veteran Justin Lin to direct and, earlier this year, Jason Momoa (Aquaman, A Minecraft Movie) to star. Now, we’re hearing the latter has departed the project.
Deadline shared the exclusive, adding “the reason for his departure is unknown”. Sony is now looking for a new main star who can help carry the weight of the massive video game IP. The search for a new lead (and the rest of the cast) shouldn’t take too long though, as the movie aims to drop in cinemas on 10th November, 2027.
At the time of writing, the plot details are being kept under wraps, but if the story and setting are kept close to the Helldivers games, you can just expect something that lands dangerously close to what Paul Verhoeven did with Starship Troopers back in 1997. Funnily enough, Sony is also said to be developing a new adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein’s novel, so you have to wonder how on (Super) Earth they’ll differentiate the flicks – if they both move forward – beyond giving them different tones (Heinlein’s original novel was, uh, not exactly satirical).
Meanwhile, Arrowhead Studios continues to expand Helldivers 2 with new content drops and loaded warbonds that deliver more creatively lethal ways to deal with killer bugs, robots, and other outer space menaces. Earlier this year, we learned the studio is plotting larger narrative arcs and events that will continue to play out even if players fail to complete key missions in the ongoing live-service war.
