BEIJING, Aug. 31-- It's another"World" for Steven Spielberg.

On the heels of his blockbuster remake of"War of the Worlds," the Oscar-winning filmmaker is setting his sights on redoing another 1950s sci-fi classic,"When Worlds Collide."

Spielberg has signed on to executive-produce the film for Paramount, assuming control of the project from Stephen Sommers. Sommers, whose credits include"The Mummy" films and"Van Helsing," was planning on writing, directing and producing"When World Collides." But he dropped out to direct and produce 20th Century Fox's"A Night at the Museum," Paramount confirmed Monday.

Hollywood heavyweight Steven Spielberg is

set to take on another big sci-fi project after achieving great success

with box office hit War Of The Worlds. There has been speculation that Spielberg will also direct the remake, however, no official decision has been announced.

Spielberg was raised on a diet of sci-fi movies and has cited the original 1951 version of"When Worlds Collide" as one of his faves. The film helped launch the golden age of science fiction; it tells the story of an astronomer who discovers that two celestial objects¢w rogue planets¢w have entered the solar system and are about to have a close encounter with the earth.

The problem however is that the rest of the world thinks the astrophysicist is nuts, and the White House ignores him. With the clock ticking, a fighter pilot, a wealthy industrialist and the scientist band together to build a Noah's Ark-like rocket so a group of people chosen by lottery can escape.

The director is currently shooting what's sure to be his next Oscar bid,"Munich," a dramatization of the 1972 Munich terrorist attacks and its aftermath. That film is due out Dec. 23. After that he has two other high-profile projects in the pipeline: a biopic on Abraham Lincoln starring Liam Neeson and the long-awaited fourth Indiana Jones adventure with old pals George Lucas and Harrison Ford.

His latest hit,"War of the Worlds," has generated more than US$570 million in global ticket sales.

(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencis)