The idea of a new Starship Troopers movie focusing on Neil Patrick Harris' psychic intelligence officer from Paul Verhoven's original 1997 masterpiece (yes, masterpiece) is just too good to be true. Literally. As in, that idea isn't quite happening. Sony is moving forward on a fourth feature film sequel to Verhoeven's Troopers, and it will focus on Carl Jenkins, but unfortunately it won't be live-action.

Don't worry, that's not entirely a bad thing. As anyone who has seen Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation and Starship Troopers 3: Marauder can attest, simply being a live-action descendent of Verhoeven's film isn't a guarantee of quality. So perhaps the switch to animation for Starship Troopers: Invasion is exactly the breath of bug-killing air this franchise needs. Sony's also found someone who can be that breath: Shinji Aramaki, who anime fans will recognize as the director of Appleseed.

Ed Neumeier, who wrote all three of the previous films, will be returning as an executive producer, as will the star of the first and third films, Mr. Casper Van Dien, though this entry will be written by a one Flint Dille (he wrote the quite good video game Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay). As for the specifics of the plot, this is what The Hollywood Reporter was able to share, "The new story centers on Carl Jenkins ... going missing while on a clandestine mission with alien bug-fighting soldiers tasked with a rescue mission that has sinister consequences."

Starship Troopers: Invasion is expected to get a theatrical release in Japan, a nation that apparently has better taste than the US, where the film will be going straight to DVD and Blu-ray. As for what director Aramaki will be bringing to the table, here's the trailer for Appleseed: