Gabriel Byrne and Elizabeth McGovern have signed on for “War of the Worlds,” the upcoming adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic for Fox in Europe and Africa and Canal Plus in France. Stuart Ford’s AGC Television has also boarded the series as a finance and sales partner and will co-distribute internationally.

Byrne (“The Usual Suspects”) and McGovern (“The Wife”) will join an ensemble cast that includes Lea Drucker (“Le Bureau des Legendes”), Natasha Little (“Silent Witness”), Daisy Edgar Jones (“Cold Feet”), Stéphane Caillard (“Genius”), Adel Bencherif (“The Prophet”) and Guillaume Gouix (“The Returned”).

Studiocanal-backed producer Urban Myth Films is producing. The Fox and Canal Plus show will go up against another take on the alien invasion tale being produced by Mammoth Screen for British broadcaster ITV. That version stars Rafe Spall (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”) and Eleanor Tomlinson (“Poldark”).

The Urban Myth show sets the action in modern-day Europe while the ITV show retains the original period setting. Howard Overman (“Misfits”) wrote Urban Myth’s series.

Urban Myth Films’ Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy said they were excited by the talent on board. “We know they will deliver exceptional performances in this contemporary and extremely relevant story reflecting our world today as we reel through strange and tumultuous times,” the pair said.

AGC Television is now a financing partner and on top of sales in North America. It will share distribution with Studiocanal in Asia, Australasia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Fox Networks Group’s sales arm will distribute in Europe and Africa.

“This modern day re-imagining of ‘War of the Worlds’ is innovative and compelling, and we’re excited to bring this type of bold, character-driven programming to audiences everywhere, with our partners Urban Myth, Canal Plus and Fox,” said Lourdes Diaz, who heads up AGC’s TV activities.

Production is underway on the eight-part series, which is filming in the U.K. and France. Gilles Coulier (“The Natives”) is directing the first four episodes and Richard Clark (“Versailles”) the remaining installments.

Gabriel Byrne is repped by The Agency and Paradigm.