Harry Knowles, the guerilla film reporter behind website Ain't It Cool News, has taken the studio shilling and is teaming up with director Robert Rodriguez on a sci-fi adaptation.

Knowles is serving as co-producer on Princess Of Mars, an adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs pulp hit Martian Tales for Paramount Pictures. The Texan film buff was approached to act as consultant after producer Jim Jacks read a remark in his 2002 autobiography in which he claimed the book series and its swashbuckling central character John Carter were ripe for the silver screen.

Knowles persuaded Rodriguez - director of the Desperado and Spy Kids series - to get on board after showing his fellow Austin resident the screenplay. A grateful Jacks later offered Knowles an official film-maker credit.

The Hollywood Reporter quotes Rodriguez as saying that Knowles has offered plenty of "under the table" advice to film-makers and it was high time he received an official credit.

In fact this is the second picture to involve Knowles after he announced back in October that he was taking a producer role on the fantasy feature Ghost Town.

The big question is whether the world-famous film geek's newfound coziness with industry movers and shakers will compromise his editorial stance on the quality of studio releases.

"This is not about me coming on board as a publicist for Paramount," he said. "While I have been in talks for this, I've had test screenings of their movies, not all of which have been good. The site does what the site does. What I do creatively is a separate thing."