Artwork by Timothy Hines/Pendragon Pictures, from the movie War of the Worlds The True Story

Fox Networks Group Europe and Africa is taking on a reboot of War of the Worlds as its second original commission.

The international arm of the U.S. broadcaster has partnered with France’s Canal+ and Atlantis producer Urban Myth Films on the eight-part remake, which will be set in the present day and tell the story of an alien invasion.

The drama was created and written by Misfits’ Howard Overman, who runs Studiocanal-backed Urban Myth Films with Johnny Caps and Julian Murphy. The series is already in pre-production and is scheduled to shoot in the autumn.

It comes as the BBC is already in production with its own take on H.G Wells’ classic sci-fi story. The Big Short’s Rafe Spall and Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson are to lead the cast of the Mammoth Screen-produced adaptation The War of the Worlds alongside Trainspotting’s Robert Carlyle and Sherlock’s Rupert Graves, which is set in Edwardian England, rather than America.

It will air on Canal+ in France and on Fox across 50 territories across Europe and Africa. Studiocanal will distribute internationally. The show will be executive produced by Overman, Murphy and Capps.

Overman said, “In many ways H.G. Wells’ novel is a cautionary tale of racial superiority and ethnic conflict. It is these themes that I wanted to explore more fully in my modern re-imagining. I look forward to bringing our bold, fresh and relatable version, inspired by this much-loved story to a new audience.’’