Under the Mountain 'set to roll'

Actors Sam Neill and Oliver Driver will square off in a battle of good versus evil in the movie version of the popular children's book Under the Mountain.

The filming of the adaptation of the award-winning Maurice Gee novel starts in Auckland on August 11, with some scenes shot on volcanic Rangitoto Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

Directed by Wellingtonian Jonathan King, who made his debut with Black Sheep, the fantasy film features Neill as Mr Jones, a benevolent alien who helps twins Theo and Rachel fight the evil slug-like aliens known as The Wilberforces, who lurk beneath Auckland's volcanos.

Driver, who was transformed into a flesh-hungry "weresheep" in Black Sheep, will play the villainous Mr Wilberforce.

Auckland teenagers, Sophie McBride, 17, and Tom Cameron, 16, will make their screen debut as red-headed twins Rachel and Theo at the centre of the story, which was made into a popular television series in the 1980s.

King said he wanted to deliver a scary and exciting adventure for teenage audiences.

"The story will contrast a contemporary Auckland city setting with a fantastic subterranean world beneath."

The 28-member Kiwi cast includes Madeleine Sami (The Jaquie Brown Diaries), Matt Sunderland (Out of the Blue), and Wellington film veteran Nathaniel Lees.

The creature effects will be produced by Richard Taylor's Weta Workshop in Wellington.

The movie was put on hold in April because of funding problems but filming is now going ahead after international and local investors, including the New Zealand Film Commission, New Zealand on Air and TVNZ, were secured.

- © Fairfax NZ News