In the winter of 1997, Dutch auteur Paul Verhoeven somehow managed to sneak Starship Troopers, an eye-popping satirisation of Robert A. Heinlein's eponymous 1959 man-vs-alien-bug book, through the studio system. Like much of Verhoeven's oeuvre, Starship Troopers — the third part of the Dutchman's 'sci-fi trilogy', also comprising Robocop and Total Recall— was widely misunderstood upon release (despite a healthy $121 million box office showing), only going on to be critically reappraised after garnering a cult following in the years that followed. Now, THR is reporting that 28 years after Verhoeven did his part, Chappie and District 9 director Neill Blomkamp is gearing up to do his with a brand new adaptation of Heinlein's hugely influential novel for Sony. Would you like to know more?

Genre aficionado Blomkamp will be directing this new take on the conflict between humanity and alien 'Arachnids'/'Bugs' from a self-penned script, and will produce the film alongside longtime collaborator and wife Terri Tatchell.