A few weeks ago the news came out that 60s British comic strip The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire was being turned into a movie. At the time, this slipped under our radar – lots of properties get optioned, but very few ever see the light of day as movies.

Since then we’ve done a bit of digging, and given what we’ve heard, we’re now rather excited.

Having spoken to someone close to the project, we’ve been told that the script has been through several drafts, and is currently out to directors. The plan is, ideally to find a director familiar with property to adapt it. More specifically, the producers are currently looking at British directors, although they may expand their search.

Just over a year ago, Duncan Jones spoke about his fondness for the comics, so it’s pretty safe to assume he’s been approached – he’d certainly be our first choice. That said, there’s currently a swathe of interesting British directors working, and we wouldn’t be disappointed to see someone like Gareth Edwards, Paul McGuigan and Neil Marshall take the reins. And to be honest, we wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve all been asked to read it.

Regardless of who adapts it, the film has huge-budget blockbuster all over it. The comics tell the story of a Roman-style empire, set on a distant, technologically advanced planet – think 300 with ray guns. Because they were written so long ago, some of the fine details of the stories are rather hackneyed and corny, but a modern take could learn from the success of updated sci-fi like Battlestar Galactica, and crank up the political intrigue and tone down the campier elements. At any length, having grown up with a very battered copy of the collected stories, from the first few years, I’m personally very excited for the project. I like sci-fi, I like Romans and Greeks, and the combination of the two is too good to resist.