A film adaptation of Helldivers 2 is in production, Sony announced today at CES 2025. The collaboration between Sony Productions and Sony Pictures does not have a release date or any other confirmed details other than the fact that it is happening. The head of PlayStation Productions, Assad Qizilbash, made this statement during the Sony CES press conference.
And what better way to announce it at a major consumer technology conference than a film adaptation; the Ghost of Tsushima anime was also presented. Crunchyroll President Rahul Purini announced this during the same conference. The project will be directed by Takanobu Mizuno (Star Wars: Visions) and produced by the animation company Kamikaze Douga (Batman Ninja). This will happen no earlier than 2027.
The elephant in the room is that Helldivers 2 is already essentially a video game based on Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers, which is a great movie regardless of whether you’re a genius enough to spot that it’s a satire or No. The 1997 sci-fi film was based on the novel by Robert A. Heinlein and follows the travails of some United Civil Federation recruits as they slaughter hordes of arachnids. It caused significant controversy at the time due to its perceived support for fascism and its gratuitous ultra-violence, but this perception has since changed quite dramatically.
I’m not saying Helldivers 2 can’t stand on its own – I like it better than, say, the Ghost of Tsushima anime – but I think it’ll be interesting to see if it can be more than a restoration.
We liked Helldivers 2 the most multiplayer game 2024and frankly, it probably has more film potential than any of its competitors (especially Borderlands, an equally “fun” co-op shooter). It joins an alarmingly long list of upcoming game-to-movie adaptations that includes things like Minecraft starring Jack Black, Mortal Kombat 2 starring Karl Urban, and more including Angry Birds 3, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and much more.