According to Variety, Filmmaker Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp has picked up rights to Mathias Malzieu’s sci-fi novel La Mecanique du Coeur (The Mechanics of the Heart) and is planning to turn it into an animated film. La Mecanique du Coeur takes place in 1874 and involves a young man who must avoid strong emotions, especially love, because his heart was replaced by a clock at birth. Mathias Malzieu, The author of the original novel, will co-write and co-direct the film with Stephane Berla and Joann Sfar, who contributed graphic elements for the book.

EuropaCorp is quickly expanding its slate of animated films with two sequels to Arthur and the Invisibles already in the pipeline, the company is also working on A Monster in Paris. Directed by Shark Tale co-director Eric Bergeron, the film will have a monster attacking Paris in the year 1910.