News On The Duncan Jones ‘Rogue Trooper’ Film: Cast Announced, Principal Photography Warpped!

We got the news on 29 January that many 2000 AD fans were waiting for — Duncan Jones’ highly anticipated adaptation of the classic 2000 AD strip Rogue Trooper has wrapped principal photography in the UK.

Announced a while back as a project from Jones, whose filmography includes Moon, Source Code, Warcraft, and Mute, and who’s a huge 2000 AD fan, this will come as welcome news for fans who were beginning to despair of any news about the film.

It had been quite some time since there had been any info on this one, something that was beginning to worry a few folks. But no, we got the news that Jones had wrapped principal photography, a cast list announcement, and the news, a surprise to many who assumed this one was going to be live-action, that the movie is actually an animated feature set to complete in 2025.

2000 AD offers a very different flavour of comic action: Political and brutal at times, but always with a Pythonesque twinkle in the eye. 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.
Writer and director Duncan Jones

Created by Dave Gibbons and writer Gerry Finley-Day, Rogue Trooper first appeared in the pages of 2000 AD in Prog 228, 1981 and swiftly became one of the comics favourite characters alongside Dredd and Strontium Dog.

The movie tells the story of 19, the last of the Genetic Infantryman, the sole-survivor of an invasion force. The movie looks like it’s going to cover the early Rogue stories from 2000 AD, introducing his comrades, three killed-in-action squad mates whose personalities have been stored in his gun, helmet and rucksack – Gunnar, Helm, and Bagman. It will also feature Rogue’s search for the ‘traitor who sold him and his comrades out,’ so presumably that means it’s the Traitor General storyline that’s going to feature.

As far as the cast, Aneurin Barnard (The Goldfinch, Dunkirk) stars as Rogue Trooper, alongside Hayley Atwell (Marvel’s Agent Carter, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One), with Jack Lowden (Slow Horses, Dunkirk), Daryl McCormack (Bad Sisters, Good Luck To You Leo Grande), and Reece Shearsmith (Inside No. 9, Saltburn). Other cast members include Jemaine Clement, Matt Berry, Diane Morgan, Alice Lowe, Asa Butterfield, and Sean Bean.

That’s what we got in the press releases anyway. But we also got Duncan Jones spilling a few beans as to the casting of Gunnar, Helm, and Bagman…

Jones also shared the crew shirts, with art by Staz Johnson…

Shot at the Rebellion Film Studios in Oxfordshire, Treehouse Digital (The Well) is ‘creating all imagery and animation for the film, working with Jones to bring to life the world of Rogue Trooper from concept art to final pixel in 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. 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.
Producer Stuart Fenegan

We are thrilled to be working with Duncan Jones, who is a fellow British creative visionary and 2000 AD fan with global reach. Rogue Trooper highlights Rebellion’s leading position within the entertainment industries. It has been filmed at our dedicated Oxfordshire film studios and combines beautiful storytelling from our iconic 2000 AD comic book universe with animation and production technology from the video game industry. We cannot wait for everyone to see these incredible stories bought to life on screen.
Rebellion CEO, Jason Kingsley CBE, producer on Rogue Trooper