In 1997, Robert A. Heinlein‘s arguably-fascist novel Starship Troopers was adapted into a brilliant satire by director Paul Verhoeven. The movie has amassed a die-hard cult over the years. It’s also amassed two direct-to-DVD sequels nobody saw. But now it looks like the Bugs will be headed back to the big screen as Vulture reports that Fast Five producer Neal Moritz and Thor screenwriters Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz are working on a remake. All I’ll say is that they have their work cut out for them. Hopefully that work doesn’t turn out to be a brain-dead action movie where soldiers fight CGI but all the subtext has been removed.
Verhoeven’s RoboCop and Total Recall are also getting remakes. I have faith in RoboCop since director Jose Padilha A) directed the celebrated Elite Squad movies; and B) he seems to understand the original material. Total Recall seems like it will be polished down to the point where it will lose the mind-bending first half and the delightful lunacy of the second half. Hit the jump to check out the trailer for Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers.
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It’s ripe for a remake.
Shia LaBeouf, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford or James Lafferty as Johnny Rico
but but what about neil patrick harris?
If they are going to redo this again then they better not white wash Juan Rico like they did with the first Starship Troopers movie by changing him into “Johnny Rico” and casting a white guy.
In the original novel, the main character is “Juan Rico” and he is Filipino.
With all of the white washing going on in Hollywood (e.g. Akira, All You Need Is Kill) this can be a perfect opportunity to not only correct the previous film’s racism by white washing Juan Rico but also to set a precedent and stop discriminating against actors of color and start giving them equal opportunity.
NO MORE WHITE WASHING!
BWAHAHAHAHHAA Jason, buddy… you do know that the “white-washing” of the cast was part of Verhoeven’s multi-tiered assault on movie/social cliches, right? There is not one aspect of that film that hasn’t been turned over and over by an incredibly socially conscious genius. So while I completely agree that movies like The Last Airbender and probably Akira are reprehensible for their white-washed casting, Starship Troopers is NOT an example of this. Do you think a movie so smart wouldn’t have an exclusively white cast talking about the destruction of their ‘home’ – Buenos Aires? Do you not catch the humor in the fact that Buenos Aires (and the rest of the world, it is inferred) was already a conquest of expanding American whiteness?
So until you grow the mental capacity to judge the many levels of meaning of a film, I’d suggest you don’t make yourself look an idiot by calling one of the most progressive films (and filmmakers) of all time a racist…
One of the most progressive films and filmmakers of all time??
Do you even know what “progressive” means?
How can a director who’s cast nothing but white people as leads in his movies even be argued as a “progressive” filmmaker?
And don’t give me none of that crap about Verhoeven and his vision to try and get away with the white washing of his movie. It just so happened that in order for Verhoeven to accomplish this vision he needed to practice white washing like has been done countless times before and since? Wow, what a coincidence. The fact that you are only on the fence with Akira as being a white wash also tells me how misguided you are.
The character in the original was JUAN RICO and he was ASIAN in the original novel. If they do another adaptation then it should correct the previous movie’s error and keep it the way it is in the original novel and give an Asian American the lead in a Hollywood movie. End of story.
While part of me is hesitant to broach the various labels which the two of you are debating, I *would* go so far as to say that it was unfair to actually give the movie the label of “Starship Troopers.” Having read the book, it’s safe to say that the references to the original literary source were, mainly, “fleeting.”
That said, while I can admire some of the things Verhoeven attempted to do with this project, it is quite a leap to claim that the movie was “smart.” What with its land-bound bugs shooting plasma/energy beams outside of their planet’s atmosphere and hitting the Earth by tossing meteors throughout space, it’s pretty hard to take the political commentary all that seriously.
Jason fell on his head as a child.
I’ll bet when you typed “Juan Rico” as your screen name that it was the closest you ever got to being near an ethnic person.
Don’t bother with them Jason. We call that Denial.
Erm you made a good fair point, now leave it, because your just coming across as racist yourself, just saying…
@WEV
Interesting. You have nothing to say for Juan Rico’s post attacking Jason on a personal level, but you’re taking the time to encourage Jason to be silent. I suppose that Jason should just “take” the insults and “like” them, right?
You a$$holes kill me.
You cry racism on everything. I bet you think its racism that keeps you from being employed rather than believe YOU are the reason. You have no marketable skills and bring little to the table. Keep making excuses, its quite amusing to imagine you at home stomping your feet blaming the world for your problems.
You forget this is an AMERCICAN REMAKE. I would have no issues if they put Will Smith in the lead of AKIRA or fricking Shia Lebouf.
Speaking of Will did you cry when they cast him in WILD WILD WEST? Probably not.
Do you cry blasphemy when an American movie is remade with say, all Japense actors?
I know you may not be able to comprehend this but the single most reason a movie gets made is….. MONEY..
The whole reason remakes even exist is to exploit a recognizeable entity with an established fan base.
Why risk hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars on an unproven commodity?
All so you can feel good about putting a Japanese guy in AKIRA or a Spanish guy as Juan Rico..Then you say douche bags would cry that they are type cast. Get over it.
“You forget this is an AMERCICAN REMAKE.”
Hey, Chief! The original Starship Troopers novel was AMERICAN and in the original AMERICAN novel the character was FILIPINO.
Are you not aware that there are people in the U.S. known as “Asian Americans”? If you don’t then you really need to get out of your backwoods town.
“Speaking of Will did you cry when they cast him in WILD WILD WEST? Probably not. ”
And how is that equal to more than a hundred years of whites white-washing roles and taking them away from nonwhites?
“Do you cry blasphemy when an American movie is remade with say, all Japense actors? ”
You mean in like Japan? Where there is no significant population of non-Asians, let alone non-Japanese, unlike the U.S. where there is a significant population of nonwhites?
“I know you may not be able to comprehend this but the single most reason a movie gets made is….. MONEY..”
Do you understand it? Cause 40% of ticket buyers in the U.S. are NONWHITE yet more than 80% of lead roles go to whites.
“Why risk hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars on an unproven commodity?”
Are you kidding me? Will Smith has been the box office champ for more than a decade. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Slumdog Millionaire made more than $100 million dollars in the U.S. alone.
Compare that to the live action Hollywood Speed Racer, Dragonball and The Last Airbender that all had white leads and ALL FLOPPED.
Hmm… seems facts say otherwise don’t it, Chief?
“All so you can feel good about putting a Japanese guy in AKIRA or a Spanish guy as Juan Rico..”
So funny. You imply others are stupid and yet you write about getting a “Spanish guy” for “Juan Rico” when I made it explicitly clear that Juan Rico was of Asian decent, specifically Filipino.
Instead of running on your white privilege conditioning you should step outside the box and educate yourself on facts so that hopefully in the future you won’t come across as a half-wit.
Correction:
“And how is that equal to more than a hundred years of whites white-washing roles and taking them away from nonwhites?”
I meant:
And how is that equal to almost a hundred years of whites white-washing roles and taking them away from nonwhites?
Speaking of facts, this is 2010 breakdown of US population by race and ethnicity. Out of 308,745,538 persons:
* White Caucasian: 63.7%
* White Hispanic and Latino Americans: 8.7%
* Black or African American: 12.6%
* Some other race: 6.2%
* Asian: 4.8%
* Mixed races: 2.9%
* American Indian or Alaska Native alone: 0.9%
* Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander alone: 0.2%
Don’t mind me. Please continue your discussion.
Un an unproven commodity? Like Harrison Ford in Star Wars? Al Pacino in the Godfather?
Even films that cost millions to produce, they let a talentless Lebouff take the leading role in Transformers.
Jesus… in china they cast mostly chinese, in france the french, and in the us mostly white cause guess what? America is mostly white dummies. Hollywood is a business and it’s going to reflect the demographic. Per example there are waaaay more Hispanic actors in films than asians. Why…..??? Cause Hispanics are the largest ethnic group after caucasians – duh!! You kids are so desperate to find racism everywhere you go you see it in everything. Should there be less white-washing YES!! But until the demogrphic becomes more balanced this won’t change. Stop blaming white people for all ur problems and glossing over the fact that you’re ADDING racism to the world by hating on them. What an over-developed sense of entitlement you all have. You think because I’m white that I’ve been given ANY favors? I’m so sick of people assuming that we do. There is racism in all colors!! Don’t add to it, change it. Take some responsibility and EARN your respect. There are no free rides in life unless Daddy happens to be a millionaire. Stop being told what to think by ur music, friends and media and think for YOURSELVES!
“Jesus… in china they cast mostly chinese, in france the french, and in the us mostly white cause guess what? America is mostly white dummies.”
You cal me “dummy” and yet use the term “French” as if it was a race. “French” isn’t a race, genius.
And China unlike the United States doesn’t have a significant non-Chinese population. The U.S. does have a significant nonwhite population.
“Jesus… in china they cast mostly chinese, in france the french, and in the us mostly white cause guess what? America is mostly white dummies. Hollywood is a business and it’s going to reflect the demographic.”
Oh really genius?
Then explain to me how if it’s supposed to reflect a demographic then why do based on statics whites get over 80% of lead roles even though 40% of ticket buyers are nonwhite (numbers come directly from the MPAA)?
“Per example there are waaaay more Hispanic actors in films than asians. Why…..??? Cause Hispanics are the largest ethnic group after caucasians – duh!!”
Hilarious!
Based on studies done at UCLA, Latinos get only 1.2% of leading roles while Asians get 1.8%.
What happened? I thought you said there were less Asians getting and yet I see Asians being casted a bit more when you look at the FACTS.
“Stop blaming white people for all ur problems and glossing over the fact that you’re ADDING racism to the world by hating on them. ”
I’ve just debunked your nonsensical babble with FACTS. The FACTS say otherwise. There is racism in the industry. How about you take those blinders you have off and look at the FACTS so you don’t come across as so ignorant?
Starship Troopers is great. But it did thrust Casper Van Dien and Denise Richards on an unsuspecting public. So it does have to answer for that. (On the other hand, it has Doogie Howser dressed as an SS guy and Michael Ironside fighting 100 foot insects barehanded. So maybe it’s a wash.)
LOL. Thanks for injecting some much-needed humor into this conversation!
(In Darth Vader voice) NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
you mean “NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
Looking at this discussion, it’s quite clear that there’s an all too familiar pattern that’s emerged. It is:
1) A person posts a message discussing something racial or racism (the two are very different) in a particular movie.
2) One person who is uncomfortable with such topics angrily replies— most often using multiple handles in an attempt to make their opinion seem as if it is widely held. In the reply, the they decry the validity of the topic and riddle their message with name-calling and personal insults.
3) The nature of the discussion is diminished, as everyone then simply talks across one-another.
These are clearly some rather sensitive topics for many involved. However, I would implore the persons (or, more appropriately, the *person*) referenced in #2 to stop operating under the assumption that their personal outlook on the world has more validity than those who have had occassion to be #1. At the very least, the hostile reactions I’ve read in this discussion reek of a rather deep-seated paternalism… and actually support the broader arguments made by those such as Jason.
Why would you remake this movie? It still feels fresh even to this day, the cgi was amazingly well done. It is just a shame the critics at the time were to darn stupid to realize it was a satire (they probably just looked up the book and thought it was the same thing), morons.
Either way, SST is a classic. If they do a remake right it would be cool to get the story in front of a new audience.
The ONLY reason to remake this would be to include the power armor. Verhoeven wanted to have it, but couldn’t afford the extra cg at the time.
Yep, CVD as Rico is practically yellowface. It’s pathetic that people still defend it. Should they have casted some fat white girl as Precious too?
Whenever writers make their characters a certain race, there’s a reason for it. If I wrote a book with a black protagonist and someone made a movie where they were white, I’d be pretty pissed. Hell I’d be mad if I wrote a book with a white protagonist and someone changed that to a minority.
Robert A. Heinlein is a genre master. I think he deserves the right to have his work respected.
One reason there have been Caucasians in so many roles is that most directors and writers of movies have been from that group in the US. Writers, for instance, or going to write with their own voice from their own experiences and family and culture. It’s often painful when someone tries to write a character from a place they really don’t understand. Directors and people at all levels of production are going to face similar challenges.
Not saying it’s the right decision to make all the time, but there are some natural and I’d say non-racist reasons for this to happen as well. I think it’s more harmful to have characters of different cultures depicted with an unnatural voice written and directed by someone who doesn’t understand them. Of course, in some science fiction or wildly fictional fantasy films, it’s less important what race the actors are as their characters are often from cultures so far removed from ours that it shouldn’t really matter either way.
Also, with the figures thrown around here, it’s not just about numbers in the groups, it’s about what people will pay to see. By scenarios presented here, if 40% of ticket buyers are Latino, apparently they enjoy going to movies full of white people. So… the problem becomes less clear from a financial standpoint.
Just saying.
aaronsullivan,
“One reason there have been Caucasians in so many roles is that most directors and writers of movies have been from that group in the US. Writers, for instance, or going to write with their own voice from their own experiences and family and culture. It’s often painful when someone tries to write a character from a place they really don’t understand. Directors and people at all levels of production are going to face similar challenges.”
You write all of this yet are neglecting the fact that the original Starship Troopers novel was written by a white man and yet still had a Filipino as the main character. The material already existed and all had to be was adapted but it was changed to a white character simply because the film makers had a closeted white supremacist mentality.
What’s also misguided about this idea you are presenting is that there are plenty of universal themes that cross cultures and ethnicities. You don’t have to write a in an “ethnic” person’s voice because there are many people that are not white and express themselves pretty much the same. A writer can write the exact same story as if it was a white person and just change it to a nonwhite person and it’ll work just the same. If anything can be added to make it closer to another culture one can get consultants for that or even ask the actors themselves to contribute.
“Also, with the figures thrown around here, it’s not just about numbers in the groups, it’s about what people will pay to see. By scenarios presented here, if 40% of ticket buyers are Latino, apparently they enjoy going to movies full of white people. So… the problem becomes less clear from a financial standpoint.”
That is a false notion because there is little choice being given to American audiences. Hollywood, and most of the mainstream media for that matter, is not in the supply and demand business. They are in the business of pushing forth whatever the bigwigs want to see. The people at the top of the Hollywood food chain are cut from the same cloth as those who were in charge of the business decades ago which is why casting practices are virtually the same.
While I don’t want to add fuel to the fire, I just want to chime in about something that was said here:
@ Jason:
You’re believe that “Speed Racer,” “Dragonball: Evolution” and “The Last Airbender” flopped at the box office was due to the white cast is incorrect.
“Speed Racer” was exactly like the anime, too much so that it did not appeal to the mass audience who were not familiar with the show. It was goofy and fun and was in many ways a very good adaptation of the source material. Had Wachowshi brothers changed the story to make it more appealing to the masses then the fans would’ve cried: “The Wachowshi brothers raped my childhood!” It’s because they respected the fans too much that they made a movie geared towards a small demographic. “White washing” the cast had nothing to do with the box office failure of the film.
As for “Dragonball: Evolution” and “The Last Airbender”……well, have you seen those films? I’ve seen both of the shows they are based on and even I went “WTF?” Both films where riddled with plot holes, unlikeable characters and awful acting. Those films were written so badly that no actor, White or Asian, could’ve salvaged through their performance. It was destined to be a failure from the start. I understand that filmmakers have to take liberties with the source material in order to adapt it for the big screen (eg. Harry Potter) but when they rip the heart and soul out of the source material then the blame can’t be placed solely on the actors. Sure they contributed but their acting alone didn’t sink the films.
Friend,
before you make a reply to someone please make sure that you have understood their message well.
I never suggested that Speed Racer, Dragonball Evolution and The Last Airbender bombed at the box only because of the whitewashing. The point in me bringing those movies up was because “Cartouche” was claiming that nonwhites are an “unproven commodity” which means that he is suggesting whites are better for box office. Yet in those cases where the characters were white washed the movies bombed at the box office which means that the change of the characters to Caucasians didn’t help those movies’ box office any. Thus implying that whites will bring in more box office like he did is utterly false.
“One reason there have been Caucasians in so many roles is that most directors and writers of movies have been from that group in the US. Writers, for instance, or going to write with their own voice from their own experiences and family and culture. It’s often painful when someone tries to write a character from a place they really don’t understand. Directors and people at all levels of production are going to face similar challenges.”
You write all of this and yet are neglecting the fact that the original Starship Troopers novel was written by a white man and yet still had a Filipino as the main character. The material already existed and all had to be was adapted yet it was changed to a white character simply because the film makers had a closeted white supremacist mentality.
What’s also misguided about this idea you are presenting is that there are plenty of universal themes that cross cultures and ethnicities. You don’t have to write a in an “ethnic” person’s voice because there are many people that are not white and express themselves pretty much the same. A writer can write the exact same story as if it was a white person and just change it to a nonwhite person and it’ll work just the same. If anything can be added to make it closer to another culture one can get consultants for that or even ask the actors themselves to contribute.
“Also, with the figures thrown around here, it’s not just about numbers in the groups, it’s about what people will pay to see. By scenarios presented here, if 40% of ticket buyers are Latino, apparently they enjoy going to movies full of white people. So… the problem becomes less clear from a financial standpoint.”
That is a false notion because there is little choice being given to American audiences. Hollywood, and most of the mainstream media for that matter, is not in the supply and demand business. They are in the business of pushing forth whatever the bigwigs want to see. The people at the top of the Hollywood food chain are cut from the same cloth as those who were in charge of the business decades ago which is why casting practices are virtually the same.
Wow @ Jason must’ve of really irked you for you to spend all of 10 minutes googling that info. You debate like a 15 yr old.
Okay so 80% of leads are white compared to 63.7% of actual population – not a real big difference there “in relation” to my point. Still supports my reasoning that American movies are made for the largest demographic which at 63.7% is white (thank you Hasdi). They’re catering to their majority, which is still 60% of there ticket sales which is guess what? Close to the population percentage of 63.7% !! Leaving the other 40% of sales to the entire mixed group of all minorities represented which comes close to guess what? almost 40% – stop me if you’re having a hard time keeping up.
I NEVER said there wasn’t racism – I said take some responsibility and stop ADDING to it. Stop your whining. Stop looking to be justified because of your color. Be judged by “your” actions.
And by the way my IQ is 142. So I actually am a genius
If I “debate like a 15 year old” then how does it feel to be corrected by someone debating like “a 15 year old”, Mr. 142 IQ?
“Okay so 80% of leads are white compared to 63.7% of actual population – not a real big difference there “in relation” to my point. ”
First of all, I wrote “over 8o%”.
Second, your IQ is “142″ and you don’t see much difference between 63% and “over 80%”?
That’s quite a miss from a person with a 142 IQ. Did you get your IQ score from a cracker jack box?
“They’re catering to their majority, which is still 60% of there ticket sales which is guess what? Close to the population percentage of 63.7% !! Leaving the other 40% of sales to the entire mixed group of all minorities represented which comes close to guess what? almost 40% – stop me if you’re having a hard time keeping up.”
You need to actually be on a roll before you wonder if you left anyone behind. So far you look like you still need someone to hold your hand.
Mr. 142 IQ, ask yourself this: If we are using population and ticket buyers as a measure of how movies should be casted in Hollywood, then why are whites casted far more than their numbers and nonwhites are casted far less than their numbers?
How can you make any argument that the system is fair when you just wrote numbers down yourself that prove that notion otherwise?
“I NEVER said there wasn’t racism – I said take some responsibility and stop ADDING to it. Stop your whining. Stop looking to be justified because of your color. Be judged by “your” actions. ”
Because of my “color”?? Oh, you think I am someone of color? Funny. Supposedly such a high IQ and you keep making mistakes that any lamebrain would make. Not that I can prove it, but I am white. Don’t know what that has to do with anything though since we are discussing the situation here.
And what actions should those of color take responsibility for? Not being born white? Where does the blame for those people of color come in when those in power in Hollywood take a role that can and/or should be given to someone who isn’t white and proceed to white wash it? Explain to me how those of color are to blame for that?
Perhaps you should stop pulling out your “stop pulling out the race card” card and do like I advised and educate yourself so you’d stop coming across like a half-wit. Cause like you said, you’d be judged by “your” actions and “your” actions here reflect someone of an IQ of 42 not 142.
I remember seeing this in theaters with my dad when I was a kid and the shower scene came on. Awkward…..
Heard the were making a new Friday movie….but they’re casting whites for Debo and Smokey lol
Jason is right. They should have make an accurate adaptation. Look at Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings…the movies depict nearly as exactly as the book and they succeeded.
Starship Troopers is a complex movie to create in 1997, I mean they should have waited for the necessary technology to happen. Look at James Cameroon being patient for producing the movie Avatar for so many years(I believe he is planning to get the movie done in the 90′s but it just not possible with the technology on that time). Until the movie was finally done in the late 2000.
Accurate casting is important, the nature of the characters, the way they think/feel, reaction is binded to its culture. Johnny Rico on that original Starship Troopers book is a Filipino, and if you read the nature of his actions, bravery, etc on that book, he got that culture on it. It is why accurate casting is important. It cannot be substitute to anyone else, otherwise it can look either funny on the screen or an inaccurate portrayal.
jason = 4SSHOLE bigot
Wladi = the 13th handle of someone with a weak argument