Oscar-nominated director, Ruairi Robinson (Blinky) who was once set to direct the live action adaptation of Akira has scored the director’s chair on The Last Days On Mars, penned by Clive Dawson. The story focuses on an astronaut crew’s mission to Mars, where a routine excavation on the red planet turns deadly as one crew member falls to his death and has his body taken over and re-animated by the life form the crew was searching for.

The project is currently in pre-production and is expected to go before cameras early next year at Shepperton Studios in the U.K. and on location in Jordan. The film is being produced by Michael Kuhn (The Duchess, Being John Malkovich) and Andrea Cornwell (The Scouting Book for Boys) of Qwerty Films. The film’s distribution and international sales will be handled by Focus Features.