Helldivers, fall in!
After an extraordinarily successful launch last year, everyone's favorite interplanetary third-person shooter is officially headed to a new medium. According to The Hollywood Reporter, longtime Fast & Furious director Justin Lin is set to helm a brand-new film adaptation of the Helldivers series.
Originally launched in 2015, Helldivers transports players to a sprawling sci-fi universe filled with extraterrestrial threats and explosive combat scenarios. Following its successful first installment, the series received a long-awaited sequel in the form of Helldivers 2 in 2024, leading to universal acclaim among the international gaming community.
Known for its humor, satire, and plentiful action, a planned Helldivers adaptation has been in the works since early 2025. With Lin joining the film as director, it now seems like the anticipated Helldivers film is being kicked into high gear, bringing all the stupendous action of the original video game to worldwide theaters.
As per THR, the film will be written by It and Annabelle scribe Gary Dauberman, with Lin, Hutch Parker and PlayStation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan serving as the movie's producers.
Interestingly, the 56-year-old Lin has confessed that he is not personally an avid gamer, allowing him to craft a Helldivers story rooted in character and a strong story rather than stylistic action alone.
The emphasis on a multiplayer-based gameplay approach to the series' universe also offered Lin plenty of room for creative interpretation, as well as opportunities to fill in the blanks for a central storyline set within the Helldivers universe.
Given the emphasis on multiplayer experiences, Helldivers does indeed lack an overarching story to rope players in. However, the games have earned repeated renown for their intricate world-building, rooted in a dystopian, totalitarian government on Earth spreading their "pro-democratic" ideology across the galaxy. Along the way, humanity must battle various alien factions based on numerous planets, including the insect-like Terminids, the cybernetic Automatons, and the squid-like Illuminate.
As of yet, there's no word on when the planned Helldivers movie might arrive in theaters.