CANNES, France — Luke Skywalker is crossing over to the directing side.

Mark Hamill, who played Skywalker in the original three "Star Wars" films, said Monday he plans to direct "Black Pearl," a low-budget thriller adapted from his comic book about a mentally troubled masked vigilante.

"It's kind of daunting," said Hamill, 58, who previously directed a straight-to-video movie but is making his first try at the big screen. "The pendulum swings from great confidence to 'What did I get myself into?' But I want to. This is going to be really a culmination of years and years of wish fulfillment on my part."

"Black Pearl" is one of three movies on the inaugural slate of Berkeley Square Films, a production company for which Hamill is a board member. Hamill discussed the project at the Cannes Film Festival, sitting alongside his cousin and writing partner on the comic book, Eric Johnson, and Berkeley Square partner Paul Tamasy, both of whom co-wrote the screenplay with him.

Hamill and Johnson originally wrote "Black Pearl" as a script, but Dark Horse Comics took an interest and asked them to turn it into a graphic novel.