KEY POINTS:
A film based on the 1979 Maurice Gee novel Under the Mountain is set to be shot in Auckland next year after being granted funding assistance.
The film, which will have the same name as the book, will be directed by Jonathan King, who directed Black Sheep, with the script having been written by King and Matthew Grainger.
Wellington's Weta Workshop will contribute creature design and special effects.
Gee's novel has sold over 70,000 copies and was adapted into a television series in the early 1980s.
The film has been accepted for funding by the New Zealand Film Commission and the Film Fund and will include investment from New Zealand on Air and Capitol Films.
- NZPA
