Colin Firth and Julie Walters to star in classic children's adaptation The Secret Garden

The new movie, which is centred around a young orphan who stumbles across a hidden paradise on her uncle's estate, has been adapted from Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1911 book, by acclaimed British screenwriter Jack Thorne, who is best known for his work on theatrical behemoth Harry Potter and The Cursed Child. Utopia's Marc Munden will direct.

It will see the story brought forward in time to 1947 rather than its original Edwardian setting and Thorne will contextualise this with the aftermath of WW2 in Britain, and the lead-up to the partition of India (where the story begins).

"This is a fantastical reimagining of The Secret Garden: I can’t wait to explore it," Munden says. "It’s an opportunity to immerse ourselves in an uncanny and wondrous world, which will play to the imaginations of adults and children alike."

Production on the film will begin in the UK on Monday.

Sign up for the RadioTimes.com newsletter