Ruairi Robinson to direct UK SF thriller The Last Days On Mars

Wadi Rum desert in Jordan

SFX reports that Oscar-nominated Irish animator & short film maker Ruairi Robinson is set to direct his first feature film, a British science fiction thriller called The Last Days On Mars, based on a short story by the late English author Sydney J. Bounds. Here is a description of the plot:

As their last day on Mars draws to a close, the astronaut crew is on the verge of a major breakthrough – collected rock specimens reveal microscopic evidence of life. Meanwhile, communication is underway with AURORA, the approaching spacecraft that will relieve the crew of their operations. In their last hours on the planet, two astronauts go back to SITE 9, a cavernous valley on the surface of Mars, to collect further evidence of their discovery. But a routine excavation turns deadly when one of them falls to his death and his body taken host and re-animated by the very life form they sought to discover.

The Last Days On Mars is expected to start shooting in 2012 on location in Jordan and at Shepperton Studios in the UK.