Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions are officially adapting the “Helldivers” series for the big screen, and as revealed today by The Hollywood Reporter — Justin Lin, best known for his work on the “Fast and Furious” series, will direct and produce the film via Perfect Storm Entertainment.
“Helldivers,” developed by Arrowhead Entertainment, rose from a gaming underdog to a cultural icon across the two games in the series. The original “Helldivers” game was released to much critical acclaim on PC platforms in 2015, but it was overshadowed by the massively successful release of its sequel on PlayStation and PC in 2024, followed by its release on Xbox in 2025.
“Helldivers 2” has sold more than 19 million copies across all available platforms, as of October 2025, taking over the gaming zeitgeist on release and still holding a loyal player base to this day.
The series puts players into the shoes of the Helldivers, an elite ‘peacekeeping’ force of shock troopers that defends the interstellar territories of ‘Super Earth’ and its ominous doctrine of so-called managed democracy. Said peace is spread with explosives, lasers, bullets and more against hordes of “Starship Troopers”-esque bugs called Terminids, as well as killer robotic Automatons and intergalactic “War of the Worlds”-inspired conquerors called The Iluminate.
Lin will be joined in producing the film adaptation by Hutch Parker and PlayStation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan — the script was written by Gary Dauberman, who previously penned the “It” and “Annabelle” films.
THR reports that Lin is publicly not a gamer. He leaned into an outsider perspective for his pitch, aiming to build out the world and mythology while also finding humanity in its characters and timely themes into the story. Considering the in-game story amounts to handfuls of lore shared around specific battles, Lin has a large canvas to work with.
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While Lin is now attached to a project with major franchise potential, he is still set to direct the “One-Punch Man” manga adaptation and “Bzkr,” which adapts the Keanu Reeves-created comic book series of the same name for Netflix.
Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions previously collaborated on adapting the “Uncharted” games, starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, in a 2022 film that grossed $407 million USD globally. PlayStation Productions is also a producer on Peacock’s “Twisted Metal” series and HBO’s “The Last of Us.”