David Cronenberg will direct a new opera based on his 1968 movie “The Fly”, which starred Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. Long-time collaborator and fellow Canadian Howard Shore (”The Lord of the Rings”) will write the score while playwight David Henry Hwang (”M Butterfly”) will pen the libretto.

With Placido Domingo as conductor, the opera will have its world premiere at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on July 2, 2008 and will be presented at the Los Angeles Opera on September 7, 2008.

According to Saturday’s Globe & Mail, both Cronenberg and Shore had wanted the opera to have its international launch in Toronto, their hometown. Canadian Opera Company general director Richard Bradshaw said the fees involved were too much for the company. He indicated, though, that the opera could still make its way to Toronto, perhaps in the summer of 2009. Casting for the Los-Angeles-Paris project is still to be done.

The opera’s story follows that of the movie, itself a remake of the original 1958 film that was based on a short story by George Langelaan.