So far, so good for Duncan Jones’ “Rogue Trooper,” which had its world premiere at the Annecy Festival. Only three reviews have been published so far, but they’re all positive, coming from The Wrap, Screen, and Deadline.
Meanwhile, the Letterboxd reactions aren’t quite as glowing, a tad more concerning, but they’re still generally positive.
Damon Wise of Deadline calls it a fast-paced, satirical, and visually stunning war film, likening it to “Starship Troopers” filtered through the surreal style of “Fantastic Planet.” Meanwhile, Drew Taylor of The Wrap describes it as “a marvel” and “an absolute hoot.
Eight years after his last feature, Jones might have a winner on his hands. We’ll see. We need more reviews. The film was shot in 2023 and still has no U.S. distribution.
Jones says “Rogue Trooper,” based on the cult 2000 AD comic and not exactly the safest choice for a comeback, was made using real-time animation in Unreal Engine 5. Normally, a film like this would cost $60–80 million to produce, but the technology helped Jones cut costs, allowing the film to be made on an “indie budget” of somewhere between $10–20 million.
A first trailer was released a few months ago, showcasing a stark, war-torn alien world and its blue-skinned, helmeted protagonist. The visuals looked slick. The voice cast includes Aneurin Barnard as Rogue, alongside Hayley Atwell, Reece Shearsmith, Jack Lowden, Jemaine Clement, Alice Lowe, Asa Butterfield, and Sean Bean.
There was a time when Jones looked like the future of intelligent sci-fi filmmaking. With “Moon” (2009), he delivered a stunning debut. “Source Code” (2011) followed, a taut and inventive thriller with a flawed ending that nevertheless further elevated his reputation. Then came the ill-received “Warcraft,” which cost $160 million and grossed $439 million worldwide, falling just short of profitability. After that, he migrated to Netflix with “Mute,” which was trounced by critics.
It’s hard not to see “Rogue Trooper” as a make-or-break moment for Jones. If it doesn’t land—critically or commercially—it may cement his status as a cautionary tale of wasted promise.
The prime catalyst for Netflix's risk-free shift may have been new content chief Dan Lin, who said two years ago that the company would greenlight films "more about audience, and less about auteurs."