Starz has picked up an action project from Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert that's based on a Japanese anime TV series. The premium cable network is developing Noir, a live-action U.S. remake of a 2001 show about two female assassins working in a criminal underworld. After discovering they're mysteriously linked, the two and have to work together on missions (under the moniker of "Noir") until they figure out why and how they are connected -- or until one of them kills the other.

Stephen Lightfoot (Criminal Justice and House of Saddam) is the writer and executive producer. Raimi and Tapert will exec produce. The duo also produce Spartacus for the network, in addition to having worked on films such as Drag Me to Hell and the Evil Dead franchise. The move is the latest in Starz' plan to develop compelling genre shows like the upcoming Camelot, a concept that AMC just proved can bring in big cable numbers with its powerful launch of The Walking Dead.