Going Rogue - Grant Morrison to write new Rogue Trooper movie

As reported all over the internet, Grant has revealed in an interview with Scotland's Daily Record that, once he's finished with the upcoming Dominion: Dinosaurs versus Aliens for Barry Sonnenfeld, he'll get to work penning a big screen adaption of 2000 AD's Rogue Trooper for Sam Worthington's Full Clip Productions.

Worthington, star of James Cameron's Avatar and the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans, was previously attached to the latest in a long line of unproduced Dan Dare movies, the early stages of which Morrison was heavily involved in. Worthington even went so far as to wax lyrical about Morrison and Rian Hughes' take on Dare in this interview with MTV's now-defunct Splash Page blog (though everyone at the time assumed he'd mixed up Grant and Garth Ennis). Given his expertise at method-action man roles, its likely that Morrison has been hired to develop Rogue Trooper as a vehicle for Worthington himself.

Rogue Trooper was created by Gerry Finley-Day and Dave Gibbons and first appeared in the Galaxy's Greatest Comic in 1981. One of 2000 A.D.'s most marketable properties behind the ubiquitous Joe Dredd, the post-apocalyptic Rogue has appeared in various computer game adaptions over the years, but this will be his first transition to the big screen. He's had a curiously all-over-the-place continuity in the comics since original writer Gerry Finley-Day left the character in 1985, with flashbacks, flash-forwards, clones and literally years of the strip not featuring the titular Rogue at all. Despite being one of 2000 A.D.'s most popular and recognisable characters, he's only appeared in one strip since 2005.

Grant Morrison previously tackled one of Rogue Trooper's supporting cast, female Gentic Infantryman Venus Bluegenes, in a 7 page one-shot strip, 'The Pleasures of the Flesh' in 2000 A.D.'s 1988 Sci-Fi Special with Warrior and Hellblazer artist William Simpson. It's... not one of Grant's best, and hasn't to the best of my knowledge been reprinted anywhere. Here's hoping his Rogue Trooper movie script is a big improvement...