'Reacher' Star in Talks to Lead 'Helldivers' Movie
Overview & Key Takeaways
Reacher star Alan Ritchson is in talks to become the Helldivers movie's leading man.
It seems that Reacher star Alan Ritchson is ready to lay down his life for Super Earth. According to Variety, the actor is in talks with Sony to star in a film adaptation of the dystopian sci-fi game series Helldivers. Jason Momoa was previously tapped to headline the flick, but exited the project in early June over “creative differences.”
What is Alan Ritchson known for?
Ritchson is perhaps known for playing the lead role in Prime Video’s popular action series Reacher. Building on the show’s success, he’s landed several leading roles lately, including the thriller Motor City and Netflix’s War Machine. Before that, he appeared in Smallville, Blue Mountain State, Titans, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and more.
What do we know about the Helldivers movie?
The Helldivers movie was announced at CES in 2025 and was later teased during Sony’s CinemaCon presentation in April 2026. Gary Dauberman, who previously wrote the It movies, Annabelle, and more, penned the initial screenplay. Justin Lin of Fast & Furious fame is directing the project (he previously worked with Ritchson on Fast X). Lin will produce alongside Hutch Parker and Asad Qizilbash.
While Sony hasn’t provided specifics on the film, if it is anything like the games, it will follow the “elite” soldiers of Super Earth as they die in brutal ways while fighting alien foes who they attacked first. If it wasn’t clear, both the original Helldivers and especially Helldivers 2 are satirical military games in the mold of Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers, where the humans are very clearly the fascist bad guys. It will be interesting to see whether the movie sticks to that premise or chickens out for safe action thrills. The film is set for release on Nov. 10, 2027.
Sony currently has several video game adaptations in the works. One of the most high-profile is the God of War TV series, which recently cast Dave Bautista as Kratos. Other projects in development include movies for Death Stranding, Bloodborne, and Horizon Zero Dawn, as well as a Ghost of Tsushima anime and the continuation of HBO’s The Last of Us.
