As reported by Variety, Aneurin Barnard, Hayley Atwell and Jack Lowden have officially joined the cast of Duncan Jones’ Rogue Trooper.
Not only that but it’s been confirmed that the movie will be animated and the main portion of production is complete.
Barnard (who will play Rogue Trooper), Atwell and Lowden will be joining the already-confirmed cast of Jemaine Clement (Avatar 2: The Way of Water), Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows), Diane Morgan (Cunk on Earth), Alice Lowe (“Black Mirror”), Asa Butterfield (Sex Education) and Sean Bean (Game of Thrones).
The movie will be produced by Rebellion and Liberty Films
Jones (who directed Moon, Mute, Warcraft and Source Code) will be adapting the 2000AD comic, originally created by artist Dave Gibbons (Watchmen) and writer Gerry Finley-Day (Dan Dare).
It tells the story of 19, a “Genetic Infantryman,” who finds himself the sole-survivor of an invasion force. Desperate to track down the traitor who sold him and his comrades out, the super soldier is accompanied by three killed-in-action squad mates, whose personalities have been stored in his gun, helmet and rucksack.
“2000 AD offers a very different flavor of comic action: Political and brutal at times, but always with a Pythonesque twinkle in the eye,” Jones said in a statement. “‘Dredd’ (2012) was a taste of what 2000 AD has to offer and now we get to show the world another side of the beast. It is a genuine privilege to be given the opportunity to make ‘Rogue Trooper.’”
Intriguingly, all imagery and animation for the film will be created by Treehouse Digital (The Well), working with Jones to bring to life the world of Rogue Trooper in Epic’s 3D tool Unreal Engine 5.
“The advancements in Unreal Engine 5 and the inclusion of MetaHuman rigs mean that it is now possible to achieve a very high standard of animation within an indie budget,” producer Stuart Fenegan added. “Working with our amazing partners at Rebellion, Epic and Treehouse Digital we are pioneering and developing a new creative pipeline that will enable independent production of CG animated films.”
