Way back in 2012, producer Toby Jaffe explained that he was developing a Starship Troopers reboot that would be less violent, less satirical, and way more patriotic than Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 original, bringing it closer to the Robert Heinlein book it was based on. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Jaffe and Columbia Pictures have enlisted Baywatch writers Mark Swift and Damian Shannon to put together a script for a new Starship Troopers, with the ultimate goal being to “relaunch a potential franchise.”
The story specifically says it’s “an all-new take” on Heinlein’s material and not a remake of the Verhoeven film, which makes it sound like it will indeed follow that “less violence and satire” plan from a few years ago. Granted, we don’t know if the new Baywatch movie is going to be some brilliant parody of the Baywatch concept just yet, so it’s tough to say what kind of take they’ll have on Starship Troopers. Maybe Swift and Shannon will surprise everybody with a Baywatch that has something to say beyond people running in slow motion, but considering they also wrote the forgettable Friday The 13th remake, the odds aren’t especially good.