20th Century Fox has picked up a sci-fi project called Para Time to develop into a feature film.  Heat Vision reports that the project comes from Matthew Graham, co-creator of the popular BBC series Life on Mars.  Plot details are currently under wraps, but the story apparently revolves around “a group that polices parallel worlds.”  Steve Tzirlin, who is developing a big-screen adaptation of the Wes Ball short film Ruin, is onboard to produce Para Time.  Graham most recently created the British series Eternal Law and wrote a couple episodes for the previous season of Doctor Who.  I’m not familiar with the BBC version of Life on Mars, but ABC tried a remake of the series in 2008 that only lasted one season.  Graham’s original show struck a chord with both audiences and critics and ran for two series.

Fox liked what they saw in Wes Ball’s animated short, Ruin—enough to pre-emptively buy the movie rights before Ball could meet with other studios.  According to Heat Vision, the studio even sees “franchise potential” with Ruin.  The plan is for Ball to direct a live-action adaptation based on a script he will co-write with T.S. Nowlin, working under the supervision of producers McG and Lucasfilm’s Steve Tzirlin.  This will be Ball’s feature directorial debut after a career in graphic work on Blu-ray and DVD featurettes, including Star Trek.

Ball and Nowlin have plenty of freedom to develop a story, since the short is dialogue-free and the plot revolves entirely  around a big chase scene.  Said chase scene is thrilling, and the design of the ruined world is inviting, so the short is worth a watch after the jump.