Álex de la Iglesia is to write and direct a live action film of the Belgian Edgar Pierre Jacobs' comic book La Marque Jaune (The Yellow Mark).

He's been given US$33.6 million to the production which is only part of Jacob's long running comic series of Blake and Mortimer that follows Captain Francis Blake and science professor Philip Mortimer as they try to solve the crimes of a mysterious criminal, and their nemesis, The Yellow Mark.

Álex de la Iglesia is just completing The Oxford Murders, a film with Elijah Wood and John Hurt, and will team up with his writing partner Jorge Guerricaechevarria, according to Variety.

I've only seen one of his films so far, La habitación del niño (The Baby's Room) (Filmstalker review) and that was excellently directed and full of style, it looks promising for this story.