A remake of a classic Australian film that put South Australia's Coorong wetlands region on the global stage is about to start, at a time when debate is again raging about protecting the Murray-Darling river system.

The 1976 classic Storm Boy will be retold by its central character, Mike, now as an older man.

Actor Geoffrey Rush will relate his childhood adventures to his troubled granddaughter.

Much loved characters including Mr Percival, the pelican, Fingerbone Bill and Hideaway Tom will be in the new version.

Rush, an Academy Award winner, said he was delighted to be involved and making a return to South Australia.

"I played a pelican in Finding Nemo and, when I got the [Storm Boy] script, I thought 'Wow, I like a challenge'," he said.

He joked that he had expected to be cast as Mr Percival: "Then, of course, I realised they wanted me to play an old guy."

Cinema release expected in 2018

The Storm Boy remake is expected to be in cinemas next year and there are hopes of international sales.

"I know this version that's been written is really a beautiful, fresh evocation of [author] Colin Thiele's original 1950s setting," Rush said.

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Producer Matthew Street said the film would be shot at several locations in Adelaide and regional South Australia but stay true to the locations in the original.

"We really wanted to do this at the location at Colin Thiele's heart," he said.

"We're actually doing a retelling ... in a way that's new and fresh, for a new generation."

Director Shawn Seet said he felt honoured to have been chosen to work on the project.

The pelicans of the Coorong region inspired author Colin Thiele to write the original story. ( Audience submitted: Helen Lewis )

"It was one of the first films I saw when I was a kid when I first came to Australia," he said.

"It's been one of the films that made me want to get into film-making, so it thrills me that we can come to use the beautiful and unique locations in South Australia which inspired Colin Thiele to write the beautiful book."

Arts Minister Jack Snelling said the South Australian Government had put in $500,000 toward the production.

"I think this is a great opportunity to make the rest of Australia, and the rest of the world, aware of the unique environment we have in the Coorong and how important the protection of the Murray-Darling Basin is," he said.

"[It] is even more topical than it was in the 1970s when the original Storm Boy was filmed."

Filming is due to start in the next few days.