Justin Lin, best known for his work on the Fast and Furious action films, is set to direct Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions’ adaptation of Helldiversebased on the popular video game franchise from Arrowhead Game Studios.
Lin will also produce the feature through his Perfect Storm Entertainment banner, alongside Hutch Parker and PlayStation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan.
Gary Dauberman, the scribe behind the hit He And Annabelle horror films, wrote the screenplay.
The game received critical acclaim when it was first released in 2015 and its sequel, Helldiverse 2sold over 12 million units on PS5 and PC in the first four months after its launch in 2024. The game was recently expanded to Xbox and is based on teamwork, camaraderie, humor and action.
The concept, which is reminiscent of that of Sony Space Soldiers films, focuses on an elite unit of shock troopers, known as the Helldivers, who must battle aliens known in simple terms as Bugs, Cyborgs and Illuminate, threatening to destroy the fictional interplanetary and faux-democratic empire of Super Earth. Add a few spores and decomposed genetically engineered insect corpses come to life, and you have a sci-fi monster party.
Justin Lin
Bryan Berlin
Lin is not a gamer and relied on that as a strength to present his views on the material, insiders said. His goal is to find the humanity in the characters and integrate current themes into the story, while building a world and mythology. There are a lot of details waiting to be integrated, which is compelling for the filmmaker.
And that gives Lin a potential second franchise at Sony that has an upward trajectory. In addition to now working in the growing field of video game adaptation, Lin remains in development and is attached to direct. The one-punch manwhich adapts the extremely popular manga.
It remains on Brzrkrthe adaptation of the comic created by Keanu Reeves and installed on Netflix, although it is outside the crime thriller Warhorse on Amazon MGM.
The director is known for turning the Fast & Furious franchise into a multi-billion dollar global phenomenon. After leading Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drifthe then realized Fast and Furious, Quick five, Fast and Furious 6 And F9: The Fast Sagawho collectively earned $2.66 billion globally. Lin also directed Star Trek Beyondthe final film in the modern Star Trek trilogy. He recently returned to his independent roots to Last daysa real-life drama premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions have previously worked together on Unexploredstarring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, which grossed $407 million worldwide and is one of the ten highest-grossing video game adaptations worldwide. PlayStation Productions is also a producer of the hit Peacock series Twisted metal and the award-winning HBO film The last of us.
Lin is repped by CAA and Sloane Offer.
