One of the writers of that Starship Troopers remake just teased the tone of his script, and offered an interesting comparison to an iconic '80s film.
The new adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein's novel, which was first adapted in 1997 by Paul Verhoeven into a film that's since become a cult classic, has been slowly marching toward production for a while now. When last we heard about what will set this flick apart from Verhoeven's, producer Toby Jaffe told us the film will be less violent, less comical and "tonally closer to something like Minority Report" while attempting to be more faithful to Heinlein's book.
Now, Zack Stentz (X-Men: First Class), who wrote the screenplay for the remake with frequent collaborator Edward Miller (they've both also signed on to help script Star Trek 3), has also weighed in on what we can expect from his adaptation of the novel. Responding to a question via Twitter from film critic and blogger Scott Weinberg, Stentz echoed Jaffe's claim that the film will be more faithful to the source material, and added in a comparison to another movie that, at first glance, might seem a little odd.
Sure, it sounds a bit weird to compare a story of future soldiers marching off to war with giant bugs for the good of their planet to an Oscar-winning 1982 film best remembered for its super-romantic final scene, in which Richard Gere carries Debra Winger out of her factory job while the now-classic love song "Up Where We Belong" plays, but there's more to An Officer and a Gentleman than sweeping romance. Remember, the main dramatic arc of that film was the conflict between the title character and the hardened, relentless drill sergeant who tries to break him. When you look at it that way, it sounds like Stentz is really trying to craft a serious military-driven drama here. Even if you'd rather see Verhoeven's version, that at least seems like a solid approach.
We won't see the fruits of Stentz and Miller's script for a while, but now that Stentz has offered that comparison, you can go rewatch An Officer and a Gentleman and just pretend that Louis Gossett Jr. is a giant bug.
(Via The Playlist)
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