Michael Bay is (finally) going back to space, and not Transformers: Dark Of The Moon space, but real, insane, and real insane Armageddon space. Afraid of asteroids and natural phenomena and also Bruce Willis crying? Get ready, because Bay is amping that all up—explosion, explosion—and throwing time-travel into the mix. Space time travel, boom.

The Wrap reports that Bay is attached to direct a big-screen adaptation of Wesley Chu’s upcoming sci-fi novel Time Salvager. The story is reportedly “set in a future where the human race has abandoned Earth and colonized the stars,” but oh, that is but the tip of the space iceberg. We promised time travel, and we’re going to deliver that—explosion, explosion—right now.

Per The Wrap, Chu’s book “follows a convicted criminal named James Griffin-Mars, who is identified as one of a select group ideally suited for time-travel missions that could delay humanity’s demise. He’s sent to Earth’s past to recover resources and treasure without altering the timeline. On a final mission that will secure his retirement, James meets Elise Kim, an intriguing scientist from a previous century, who’s fated to die during the destruction of an ocean rig. James brings Elise back to the future with him, saving her life, but turning them both into fugitives.”

The soon-to-be-released book’s Amazon page gives us a deeper look at the mechanics and mores of Chu’s constructed world. The Earth is “toxic,” life on the other planets and moons is “doomed,” and James is picked to go back in time because he is “one of a select and expendable few” who can do what is billed as “the most dangerous job in history.” James is a “chronman,” which is both physically and emotionally demanding, a crappy job in a crappy world that involves salvaging the resources of the past without messing up the future timeline (yeah, we’ve got a feeling that’s not going to pan out so well).

Chu’s novel apparently chronicles James’ “final mission” (oh, man, they are always final missions), which is thrown into turmoil when he rescues Elise, breaking those don’t-screw-with-the-timeline laws. Wait, so it’s also a sci-fi time travel movie with a love story? This one really does have everything, including a hero whose name literally includes “Mars.”

Although Paramount Pictures, which will produce the film, and Bay himself have yet confirm the news, The Wrap reports that Chu announced it on his blog before deleting it. Oopsie. In any case, it sounds like the kind of film—explosion, explosion—that Bay can turn into one hell of a wild ride. Maybe the guy can even get another Criterion Collection entry out of it (space, time travel, love, those are all hallmarks of the collection anyway, right? right, guys? where are you going?).

Time Salvager will hit shelves on July 7.