Joss Whedon prepares new project

[Miss Muffet]

Universal Pictures has picked up Goner, a fantasy thiller script by Joss Whedon.

The Buffy creator will direct from his own script, though he is not being forthcoming as to its contents. Variety quotes him as saying: "It's the story of a young woman's journey that involves a great deal of horror and some heroics.

"It's certainly darker than Serenity, and there are a lot of left turns along the way. It is something I had in mind for a while, and it just poured out of me when I finished my film."

Serenity, the big screen reworking of Whedon's short-lived TV show Firefly, hits cinemas next month.

He is currently working on Warner Bros.' comic book heroine movie Wonder Woman.