If you're in Auckland and see a mysterious figure lurking on the shores of Lake Pupuke next year, don't panic - it's just a Wilberforce. Black Sheep director Jonathan King will be shooting a film based on Maurice Gee's classic novel Under the Mountain in the new year. "I want to deliver a scary and exciting adventure for teenage audiences," says King. "The story will contrast its contemporary Auckland city setting with a fantastic subterranean world beneath."

Image: NZ director Jonathan King.If you're in Auckland and see a mysterious figure lurking on the shores of Lake Pupuke next year, don't panic - it's just a Wilberforce. Black Sheep director Jonathan King will be shooting a film based on Maurice Gee's classic novel Under the Mountain in the new year. "I want to deliver a scary and exciting adventure for teenage audiences," says King. "The story will contrast its contemporary Auckland city setting with a fantastic subterranean world beneath."

Image: NZ director Jonathan King.The fantasy adventure film has been written by King and Matthew Grainger, and is being produced by King, Grainger and Richard Fletcher. Weta Workshop are on board to do the creature design and special effects.

"Maurice Gee's novel has always felt like an adventure on the scale of the Hollywood movies I grew up on - but one that belongs to us," says Grainger. "It's hugely exciting to have the opportunity to bring it to life for a new generation of New Zealanders and to introduce it to an international audience."

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.

The original novel has sold more than 70,000 copies since its publication in 1979.

Jonathan King's first feature Black Sheep won four international awards, and is currently in release in the United Kingdom where it has grossed more than $US1million in its first two weeks.

26/10/07