UK heavyweight Ninja Theory recently let GamesIndustry.biz in on its plans for the immediate future. It looks like the team behind PS3’s (almost) blockbuster Heavenly Sword isn’t continuing the franchise, at least not yet. Ninja’s next project will be an original IP that will appear on Xbox 360 alongside the expected PS3 version. Interestingly enough, the game may be partnered with a full CG movie, which may or may not already be in the works.

Co-founder and chief developer Nina Kristensen said of the new project, “We’re certainly targeting a triple-A blockbuster, with two and a half years in production – a big game that builds on our core strengths of story-telling, cinematics and combat.” She went on to say, “But we’re actually looking at something in addition to that – we’re considering opportunities in creating a CGI movie using the game engine alongside the game itself. The game’s certainly the most important thing, and we haven’t decided for sure to do this, but it’s something we’re looking at. It’s an interesting idea.”

Ninja Theory certainly has some ties to the movie industry already, as they were heavily tutored in the production of Heavenly Sword by contributors to films such as Mission Impossible 3, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and the Lord Of The Rings series. “There’s a lot of these relationships that we intend to maintain going forward into our new game,” she notes. That’s all that’s been revealed for now, but if I were a betting man (which I am) I’d put $50 on at least a dozen screenshots to pop up by the time E3 rolls around.