Fresh off the success of The Martian, 20th Century Fox appears eager to reunite director Ridley Scott and scribe Drew Goddard for the upcoming western Wraiths of the Broken Land. According to Deadline, Fox has just secured the rights to S. Craig Zahler’s novel. Another The Martian cohort – Simon Kinberg – is slated to be among the film’s producers.

While The Martian was a light and breezy science fiction film molded in the classical Hollywood mold, Wraiths of the Broken Land will be a completely different affair. The broody and dark story is a western that centers around the attempted rescue of two sisters forced into prostitution. This mission is fraught with peril and danger – the novel’s genre lent towards horror and noir. No casting decisions are known at this juncture and neither is a production schedule this early in the game. However, it appears that Scott and Goddard are eager to work with one another again.

The Martian, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won two Golden Globes (including the slightly controversial Best Picture: Comedy prize), was a huge hit for both Fox and Scott grossing upwards of $600 million worldwide. Of the film’s Oscar nominations, Scott didn’t receive a Best Director mention marking one of the biggest shocks last season. Scott is currently filming Alien: Covenant, a continuation to his Alien reboot Prometheus starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Damián Bechir and Carmen Ejogo. That film is slated to be released on August 4, 2017. Goddard, who was Oscar nominated for his The Martian script, previously penned the subversive horror entry The Cabin in the Woods.

We will stay tuned the latest on Wraiths of the Broken Land.