According to The Hollywood Reporter, Roland Emmerich will deliver a blast from the past for Columbia Pictures. The German helmer has signed on to direct 10000 BC a prehistoric epic that depicts tribal life at the dawn of modern man.

The deal marks the first project under Emmerich's production deal with Columbia, which was signed in April.

John Orloff (HBO's Band of Brothers) is penning a new draft of the script, which is based on an idea that Emmerich envisioned a decade ago. Emmerich and Harald Kloser wrote the long-gestating project's original script.