Yes, he’s David Cronenberg’s son. And he’s a damn good filmmaker in his own right.

Variety reports tonight that Brandon Cronenberg will follow-up his excellent debut feature Antiviral (above) with Dragon, an epic sci-fi thriller that the Canadian filmmaker describes as being “like an adaptation of an imagined Philip K. Dick novel.” He adds that the film will explore “the pleasures of space horror in a satirical and at times psychotic universe.”

Set in the near future, Dragon envisions a society radically changed as a result of discovering ancient organic lifeforms drifting through the cosmos, whose alien biochemistry has been processed to create a hugely profitable drug that acts as an “opiate of the masses.” The film follows a captain and her crew as they hunt these “dragons” in deep space, seeking to secure a comfortable future.

Cronenberg will co-write the project with Marvel Comics writer Dan Abnett.

Shooting is expected to begin in mid-2018, with Luc Roeg’s Independent and Martin Katz’s Prospero Pictures producing.