Back in August of last year, we brought you the news about director Alexandre Aja (Piranha 3D) and his 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. Aja was granted the rights by creator, Buichi Terasawa (Goku Midnight Eye).
At the time, Aja said of the project:
“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.”
Now, Variety reports that Paris-based Onyx Films has joined forces with Aja to produce the film, with a reported budget north of $100 million. Pre-production on the project will begin this fall, with production starting in the early spring of 2012 and is slated to hit theaters in the summer of 2013.
Onyx Films and Aja have also released the poster concept art for Cobra: The Space Pirate, which you can check out below!
[Click Image To Blow Sh!t Up]
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.
