The graphic novel Cowboy Ninja Viking by AJ Lieberman and illustrator Riley Rossmo is coming to the big screen!

Disney originally considered producing the script, which was written by Zombieland writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese.  However, the script was not up to Disney’s family standards, and now Universal has grabbed on instead.

Production will hopefully start later this year, with Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, The Kite Runner, Quantum of Solstice) helming the project.

Deadline has provided a brief synopsis of the film:

Cowboy Ninja Viking is based on the Image Comics graphic novel by AJ Lieberman and artist Riley Rossmo. The title character comes from a secret government program to turn schizophrenics into assassins. The protagonist comes through the program with the skill sets of a cowboy, ninja and a viking. While most of the patients involved in the program are sent back to insane asylum after the program went awry in Iraq, he escapes and uses his skills to track down the billionaire who masterminded the program. Wernick & Reese are also producing.

After Forster completes production on World War Z, the Brad Pitt thriller that hits theaters this December, work on Cowboy Ninja Viking will begin.  Deadline also states that Universal’s intent is to start a franchise.

Will you see Cowboy Ninja Viking?