Stan Walker, Rhys Darby Join Taika Waititi's Barry Crump Movie

Stan Walker and Rhys Darby have joined Sam Neill in the cast of Taika Waititi's movie adaptation of a book by Barry Crump.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople, which is based on Crump's Wild Pork and Watercress, stars Neill as the cantankerous foster uncle Hec who goes bush in the Ureweras with his city kid nephew Ricky after Social Welfare threatens to put the boy into a home.

Singer and X Factor NZ judge Walker and comedian Darby have supporting roles in the film which is already shooting in West Auckland and the Central Plateau, from where Walker posted a weather report from the set on instagram.

It will be Walker's third feature after 2013 local hit Mount Zion and the forthcoming Born to Dance.

Also appearing in Wilderpeople are Rima Te Wiata, Oscar Kightley, Rachel House, Cohen Holloway and Mike Minogue.

Ricky is played by young Wellington actor Julian Dennison, who was first seen in local movie Shopping, and had a supporting role in the recent Australian film Paper Planes.

Waititi, who has written the screenplay and who is a producer on the film, has had the Crump book adaptation in the works since before his second feature Boy became the biggest movie at the New Zealand box office in 2010.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is due to be released in 2016.

Story: NZHerald