Invasion, a title selling in Cannes by Little Studio Films, represents a change of pace of director Mick Garris, who made his name in the horror field and helming Stephen King adaptations.

In the 1990s, Garris directed the King-written Sleepwalkers and the high-profile TV mini-series translations of King works The Stand and The Shining. And in recent years he created the horror anthology series Masters of Horror and Fear Itself.

But the writer-director is now making his first foray into science fiction. Even more interestingly, period science fiction.

“It’s a bit of different direction for me,” he admits to Heat Vision, “but it’s great because I get to make a period movie but with a modern sensibility.”

Garris described Invasion as The Outer Limits meets Mad Men, a time of “men in ties and hats and when you thought you could trust the government.”

The script, by A.J. Ferrara, centers on a woman reporter trying to show a male-centric newsroom that she is more than just “boobs and a skirt,” in Garris’ words. In trying to step out of the style pages she’s been relegated to she uncover the truth behind an alien invasion.

Priority No. 1 is Garris snagging a female lead, with production hiring Ferne Casell (Taken, Monster) as its casting director.

Garris is looking forward to injecting a cynical feeling into that more innocent time and says that despite the dose of fantasy and imagination, the script is well-researched and filled with events that were well-documented.

Garris hasn’t abandoned his horror roots. As he raises financing for Invasion, he is working on creating another anthology series, this time with an international flavor.