Given that their last trip beyond the bounds of Earth ended unceremoniously when they were fired from the Han Solo Star Wars spin-off, directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller could be forgiven for keeping their feet on the ground for a future gig. Yet they're ready to risk space again, signing on to develop and potentially direct an adaptation of The Martian author Andy Weir's new novel Artemis.

As he did with that successful adaptation, Simon Kinberg will produce alongside Aditya Sood. Artemis focuses on Jasmine "Jazz" Bashara, who is looking for a little direction in life while working on the titular city, the first to be built on the Moon. She's a porter by trade, but tries to make money with a smuggling sideline – until a potentially huge score drops into her lap and lands her in the middle of a conspiracy for control of the city itself.

The book, which promises to blend Weir's talent for real-world science and suspense, will be published in November, but 20th Century Fox and New Regency are making it a priority to get a movie into production as soon as possible. And while they've proven they know how to knock out a script, Lord and Miller will be looking for a writer to work on the project. Beyond that, they have lots of films in development or production as producers, and penned the script for the animated Spider-Man movie due next year.

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