Director Alexandre Aja (Piranha 3D) has apparently already chosen his next project. The director plans to adapt the Japanese manga-turned animated series, Cobra The Space Pirate into a tent pole-sized live action franchise for the big screen.

Deadline reports that Aja has he’s been granted the rights by creator, Buichi Terasawa (Goku Midnight Eye), and is currently shopping the project around to different financiers, hoping to start production on the film soon.

Aja says,

“I grew up dreaming about Cobra-The Space Pirate. My day was, finish school, run home and switch on the TV and I was hardly the only one. Kids did it in France, Italy, Spain, all over Western Europe. For many people there is Star Wars and nothing else, but for me and my writing partner, there is Star Wars and Cobra. I am so surprised it never crossed the ocean and made the same impact in the U.S., because it is so big everywhere else. There are 60 books, a lot of TV animation and so many adventures, pirates and bad guys that it is perfect to be reinvented into a really cool space opera adventure franchise for a new generation.”

Cobra The Space Pirate follows a space pirate named Cobra who refuses to align with either the United Galaxies Federation or the Pirates Guild, which results in a huge bounty being placed on his head. Hoping to stay one foot ahead of his captors, Cobra teams up with another bounty hunter named Jane who is searching for her sisters in order to decode a treasure map that has been tattooed onto their backs. Together, Cobra and Jane hope to secure a lost treasure hidden somewhere on Mars.

The English language adaptation of the television anime series was called Space Adventure Cobra and ran for 31 episodes.