(Sci Fi Wire) Newly formed Pendragon Pictures announced that it will begin production of an independent-movie version of H.G. Wells' SF novel War of the Worlds in September. Pendragon chief executive Timothy Hines will direct the film, the company announced.

Susan Goforth will adapt the novel and star in the film, which will also feature a cast of television actors and unknowns. The $42 million production will be shot with the same digital system George Lucas used for his upcoming Star Wars: Episode II, the company announced.

The film is being financed with venture capital. Hines previously made films for Troma Films' 50th Street Films art division. Hines also directed Bug Wars, a low-budget SF movie about two female survivors of a doomsday war against giant alien spiders, which was made for video.

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