Shekhar Kapur ("Elizabeth") has signed on to develop and direct the $200 million period fantasy "Larklight" for Di Novi Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures says The Hollywood Reporter.

Scribe Steven Knight ("Eastern Promises") will adapt Philip Reeve's 2006 novel which is set in a Victorian-era alternate universe in which mankind has been exploring the solar system since the time of Isaac Newton.

The main plot revolves around a brother and sister who team with a band of renegade space pirates to save the world from destruction at the hands of a madman.

Last week, Kapur signed on to take over the director's chair for the late Anthony Minghella for his segment of the shorts ensemble "New York, I Love You."

He also has "Solace" at New Line and theMumbai-set sci-fi flick "Paani" in development.