Full Metal Panic heading to big screen

Mandalay Pictures will develop a live-action, big-screen version of the Japanese manga series Full Metal Panic, which blends action and comedy with high school romance, according to The Hollywood Reporter (via Sci-Fi Wire).

Writer Shoji Gatoh created the manga series, revolving around a teenage anti-terrorist commando named Sousuke Sagara, who is given a mission to protect a high-school girl with mystical powers. The series is set in a world almost exclusively without adults. Gatoh’s serialized novel, illustrated by Shiki Douji, was developed in the early 2000s as a Japanese anime by Kyoto Animation and eventually yielded a spinoff series, which was later dubbed by ADV Films for U.S. distribution.

Zac Efron is rumored to be attached to the project, having held a conversation surrounding it.

Below is a trailer for the TV series.