Is Christopher McQuarrie the new go to guy for adapting popular Japanese franchises into big budget blockbusters? The Edge of Tomorrow scribe (based on Yoshitoshi Abe’s All You Need Is Kill) has been tapped by Skydance Productions to adapt the seminal 1970s space opera Star Blazers (the English-language adaptation of Space Battleship Yamato) for the big screen.

Coming in an era before Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica dominated the hearts and minds of sci-fi fans, Star Blazers follows the survivors of a terrible alien attack on Earth that destroyed its atmosphere. Now, they only have one year before radiation will penetrate their underground sanctuary and render the human race extinct. So, basically, Los Angeles in about 30 years.

Skydance, coming off the successes of World War Z and Star Trek Into Darkness, is hoping to turn Star Blazers into another big scale franchise and a tentpole film in its own right. McQuarrie has been set as the writer since Skydance acquired the property in 2011, but now he will also direct it and produce alongside Josh C. Kline, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Shouji Nishizaki and Paul Scwake serving as executive producers. Given anime adaptations’ spotty track record when it comes to live action English language versions, fans will be understandably nervous, but I think everything will be okay so long as they make sure to keep the original theme song.

What do you think of this news? Are you excited to see Star Blazers on the big screen? Let us know in the comments below or tell me on Twitter.

[HT: Deadline]