Children's television series The Tribe, shot mainly in Hutt Valley, is to be made into a movie, with Weta Workshop creating the visual effects.
Series creator Raymond Thompson was developing the film with Weta Workshop, which did some visual effects for the series, Variety magazine reported.
The Tribe, which last aired in 2003, is set in a post-apocalyptic world where adults have been wiped out by a virus and young people have to fend for themselves.
Thompson wanted to introduce the franchise to United States audiences under the name, Tribes.
Along with the film, he wanted to bring out comic books, video games and other ancillary merchandise.
Thompson told Variety he wanted to further explore the world created in the television show.
"I always wanted to do a movie version and work with a bigger canvas.
"With the right director, it would be exciting to explore the themes" of youngsters building a new world.
The series was co-produced with Britain's Channel Five, and aired on more than 40 networks. Channel 5 continued the show in 2005 with a spinoff, The New Tomorrow, which had a younger set of characters.
I got into this show near the end, so it will be good to see what a movie version would end up like.