Special effects by WETA . . .

Mars astronauts picture“I have loved making sci-fi films since I made Pitch Black and for [this one] we have assembled a great team to do justice to a wonderful and commercial script,” Qwerty Films’ Michael Kuhn (The Duchess, Being John Malkovich) said of his latest project, The Last Days on Mars.

The movie will be the full-length feature debut of director Academy Award nominated Ruairi Robinson (Fifty Percent Grey, Blinky). The script is by Clive Dawson (The Bunker). Peter Jackson’s legendary WETA outfit (District 9, Avatar, Rise of the Planet of the Apes) will provide the special effects.

Here’s the plot synopsis:

As their last day on Mars draws to a close, the astronaut crew is on the verge of a major breakthrough – collected rock specimens reveal microscopic evidence of life. Meanwhile, communication is underway with AURORA, the approaching spacecraft that will relieve the crew of their operations. In their last hours on the planet, two astronauts go back to SITE 9, a cavernous valley on the surface of Mars, to collect further evidence of their discovery. But a routine excavation turns deadly when one of them falls to his death and his body taken host and re-animated by the very life form they sought to discover.

The movie is in preproduction right now and will probably hit theater screens in 2012.