Actor Joshua Jackson is set to hop on UFO, a feature adaptation of the 1970-71 British cult TV series.

The Vancouver-born Jackson, who currently stars in the FOX television series Fringe, will play Paul Foster, a test pilot for an organization called S.H.A.D.O. (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization) which defends Earth from aliens who abduct humans and harvest their body parts. Col. Paul Foster was played in the original ITV series by Michael Billington, which also starred the late Ed Bishop as Cmdr. Ed Straker, the head of S.H.A.D.O.

The UFO movie will be produced by Henri M. Kessler and Avi Haas, from a script by Ryan Gaudet and Joseph Kanarek. Matthew Gratzner, who served as visual effects supervisor on such films as Iron Man, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and the upcoming Shutter Island, will be making his directorial debut.

Gratzner told Variety that Jackson was the ideal choice for the role. "Character development is the most critical part of 'UFO,' and Joshua's terrific talent and range is exactly what I need to convey the inner conflict of the character of Paul Foster," he said.

The original series was created by Gerry Anderson, best known for his futuristic TV shows that employed "Supermarionation", such as Thunderbirds, and, of course, for Space 1999. UFO was the prolific producer's first live action series. It became renowned for its advanced miniature work, which featured the talents of artisans such as Derek Meddings, who would later work on major motion pictures such as Superman: The Movie, Moonraker, Batman and Goldeneye.

To check out CinemaSpy's recent UFO Drawing on Imagination feature, with some cool speculative concept art postulating what a new UFO might look like, click here.