Gunpowder & Sky’s sci-fi label DUST has taken the rights to the interstellar noir comic Hadrian’s Wall from Kyle Higgins (Nightwing, Batman: Gates of Gotham), Alec Siegel (Batman Beyond) and Rod Reis’ (Winter Soldier). Higgins will adapt and direct the feature.

It’s the first adaptation for the New York Times No. 1 best-selling author Higgins who has also directed a live-action trailer for Shattered Grid, which clocked 12 million cross-platform views in its first two weeks of release.

Kyle Higgins DUST

Billed as a locked-room murder mystery in space, Hadrian’s Wall follows a pill-popping detective sent to interview the crew of a distant survey ship, when his ex-wife’s new husband dies in suspicious circumstances amidst a broiling cold war between Earth and her distant colony.

“Although Hadrian’s Wall takes place a century into the future, the crew of the space vessel navigates both a murder mystery and a civil war in a world smartly mirroring our present day,” said Cody Zwieg, Senior Vice President of Development and Production, Gunpowder & Sky. “Higgins turned the classic whodunit tale on its head and shot it into space. This is exactly the kind of film we like to put out at DUST and Gunpowder & Sky.”

Higgins added, “I was blown away by the filmmaker-friendly team at Gunpowder & Sky and I’m grateful to be making my first feature with them. It was immediately clear how passionate they are and we share the same vision for how to bring Hadrian’s Wall to the big screen. The best murder mysteries are vehicles for character study, and at its core, this is a story about relationships, set in one of the most isolated places in the universe. I think fans of the book will be as thrilled as I am.”

Higgins is repped by UTA and Agile Entertainment. Hadrian’s Wall is published by Image Comics and Glénat Editions, in conjunction with Omar Spahi and OSSM Comics.