Rogue Trooper could be that movie that makes or breaks Unreal Engine as a platform for filmmaking

Just four images from the Rogue Trooper movie have been released, and they're already causing controversy. The eagerly awaited adaptation of the classic comic strip from 2000 AD is due for release this year. There's still no trailer, but the brief glimpse provide this week is enough to cause both excitement and concern among fans.

Written and directed by Warcraft director Duncan Jones, the movie looks set to be a test for a new approach to filmmaking that could transform what's possible on an indie budget. As far as I'm aware (correct me if I'm wrong), it will be the first major feature-length film to be entirely animated in Unreal Engine 5 (UE5), Epic Games' popular game development software.

While UE5 is most known for its use to create games like Black Myth Wukong and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, it's also being employed for movie VFX and 3D visualisation. A full movie 100% animated in the software shows how much it's coming to define 3D visual media, and it could change the kinds of films we see.

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Created by artist Dave Gibbons and writer Gerry Finley-Day, Rogue Trooper tells the story of 19, a genetic Infantryman and the sole-survivor of an invasion force. Desperate to track down the traitor who sold him and his comrades out, he's accompanied by three late squad mates, whose personalities have been stored in his gun, helmet and backpack.

The Rogue Trooper images released by Rebellion and Liberty Films show the main character (top), who is acted by Aneurin Barnard from The Goldfinch, Dunkirk. In the three images in the gallery above, we also see Jemaine Clement (Avatar 2: The Way of Water) and Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows) as scheming battleground looters Mr Brass and Mr Bland and get a glimpse of a war vehicle on the planet Nu Earth. The third image depicts two Souther soldiers lost in a toxic wasteland.

Behind the scenes images of Jemaine and Matt were also released to illustrate the facial capture technology used. Producer Stuart Fenegan said the images show "the amazing fidelity with which the team have used our actors on set performances to drive the animated characters. That level of detail and nuance was a priority from day one.”

As for the process, we're told principal photography with the studio Motion Grinder was completed last year using cutting-edge Head Mounted Camera (HMC) technology. Imagery and animation partner Treehouse Digital processed and applied the data to the characters in Unreal Engine 5, handing over to Liberty Films’ own VFX and animation teams to light and finalise.

While we've already seen movie work done in Unreal Engine 5 (see our recent piece on the making of the Minecraft Movie), it's a bold move to fully animate in the software. But that decision is basically what made the film possible since recreating a world like Rogue Trooper's physically would have demanded a much, much bigger budget. At the same time, it looks like the approach could have some benefits, allowing the recreation of a gritty, surreal world.

Fans' initial reactions have been divided, with some suggesting that the stills make the film look more like an adaptation of the Rogue Trooper video game than the comic. One person writing on X wonders if it will be the "first movie with traversal and shader compilation stutter".

An immediate source of controversy is the character's eyes with some wondering why they couldn't be made more faithful to the comic. Others suggest the visuals look simultaneously overdone and watered down.

But I think we might look back at this movie as a seminal piece that defines a new animation style. I'm not sure about the end of the Spider-verse and Arcane style as some are suggesting, but if it works, it's likely to attract more indie directors to Unreal to create films they couldn't have made otherwise.

Using UE 5 for film doesn't carry the same inherent limitations as game visuals because a movie doesn't have to run on an Xbox or a PlayStation. Frames are pre-rendered, which eliminates the challenges posed by the amount of computing power needed to render in real time. The test will be whether the animation can immerse the viewer and carry the narrative, and not look like an extended cutscene from a video game.

Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Duncan Jones will be appearing at San Diego Comic Con on 25 July.