Korean production/distribution giant Mirovision will adapt Empire of the Ants, the best-selling sci-fi novel by French author Bernard Werber, for the big screen. Mirovision, headed by Jason Chae, is showing the first promo trailers for the $25 million, 3D animated feature, to buyers in Cannes, The Hollywood reporter said.

Korean director Kim Moon-saeng, who shot animated fantasy film Wonderful Days (2003), is on board to helm the English-language production and will produce with his Anima House shingle and production partner Kay Hwang. Young Gi Lee of Korea's Wonderworld Studios will also produce.

The film is set in a near future. A man working in an underground laboratory learns to speak with ants using a pheromone translator. The ants tell him the story of Princess Ant 56 and her battle to found an ant empire. The book, the first in Werber's was a global best-seller. Weber's books have sold more than 18 million copies worldwide. Writer Kim Se Jung, whose credits include the Vanguard Animation title Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks LIke, will adopt the novel for the screen.

Webber himself has directed a number of shorts as well as one feature film - the faux-documentary Our Earthmen Friends - based on his own play.