J.J. Abrams is so secretive and careful about even the projects he's developing as a producer that it's insanely difficult to keep track of them during the development phase-- the code names pretty much take care of that. So I'm not sure if we've reported before on the project going by the code name Zanbato, but I know I'll never forget it now, since the story apparently involves "Japanese history and robotics: swashbuckling robots with swords."

As if that weren't cool enough, Deadline is also reporting that Abrams has brought on one of the few female writing duos in the industry to handle the script; Monica Breen and Alison Schapker, who are also co-executive producers of Fringe, will do a rewrite on the script even as they've re-upped their deal to work on Fringe. Abrams doesn't seem interested in directing the project-- at one point Francis Lawrence was attached to direct-- but as with every project that Abrams shepherds as a producer, his involvement automatically makes it more intriguing.