A Helldivers film is coming from Fast & Furious director

A live-action Helldivers movie is officially in the works, as Fast & Furious director Justin Lin seeks to spread managed democracy on the big screen.

It’s a great day for all beings of Super Earth! Sony’s explosive franchise is making another jump – this time, to movie theaters around the globe.

The project has already found its director in Justin Lin, of Fast & Furious fame, and the script has already been finalized by It and Annabelle writer Gary Dauberman.

Though, as The Hollywood Reporter was informed, it’s not set to be a direct copy of the games in every sense. Super Earth Armed Forces can breathe a sigh of relief knowing they won’t instantly be blown to smithereens, melted by alien acids, or devoured whole. Well, at least not all of them.

Helldivers movie in the works with Fast & Furious director

While there’s no word on a release window just yet, it’s clearly full steam ahead on bringing Helldivers to life on the big screen. Lin has inked a deal to direct and produce, and he’s reportedly eager to put his own spin on it.

It’s no secret Helldivers is heavily inspired by Sony’s own Starship Troopers films, which in turn are based on Robert A. Heinlein’s iconic sci-fi novel. The two games focus on wanton violence against alien species like the Illuminate. No cost is too high to stop their advances, and Super Earth is willing to throw countless bodies into a meat grinder in hopes of solving the problem.

In Lin’s take, however, it appears we’ll actually follow a set of characters, and they might not be senselessly murdered the second they set foot on a foreign planet.

The director, best known for helming five Fast & Furious films, is admittedly not a huge gamer, but that’s what he reportedly relied on when pitching his version of a Helldivers film to Sony. Lin instead wants to give characters a bit more humanity while exploring the deeper mythology of the game’s galactic lore.

Rest assured, there’s still bound to be plenty of over-the-top violence, alien slaughter-sprees, and no doubt a fair bit of hilarious friendly fire thrown in the mix too. But this live-action adaptation also aims to give us a proper group to follow from start to finish.

Helldivers first made a splash in 2015, launching across the PS3, PS4, and PS Vita. The top-down shooter was incredibly addictive, and learning Stratagem patterns was all I could think about for a few dozen hours.

However, it wasn’t until a third-person pivot in Helldivers 2 that the series really took off. The 2024 follow-up catapulted the Arrowhead Game Studios franchise into orbit, drawing millions of players across PS5, PC, and eventually, Xbox Series X | S as well.