Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg is shooting a new horror movie in Wicklow called The Turning.

The Hollywood legend has flown into Ireland to begin work on his latest project, which has been surrounded by secrecy as he's keen to keep all images from the set under wraps.

The top film-maker has put in place a range of tough security measures for the movie, which is being partly filmed on Kilruddery Estate.

All the crew involved in the project have had to sign non-disclosure agreements and nobody is allowed near the set without clearance.

In what will come as welcome news for the Irish film industry, it's understood that Spielberg has been here since last week when shooting began.

The movie, which was previously called The Haunted, will star acclaimed acting talent Finn Wolfhard.

The talented Canadian 15-year-old played Mike Wheelan in Stranger Things, and his youthful co-star has been named as Brooklyn Prince, with the film being directed by Floria Sigismondi.

The film tells the story of a young woman, played by Mackenzie Davis, who has taken on the part of a nanny in charge of looking after two orphans who live in a spooky country mansion.

The lush backdrop and picturesque beauty of Wicklow's Kilruddery was deemed the perfect backdrop for the movie, which was based on the Henry James novella, The Turn Of The Screw.

No stranger to the area, Spielberg was reported by the Wicklow Voice newspaper to be staying nearby in the Druid's Glen Hotel while he worked on the project, but kept a low profile while there.

He previously visited Ireland to meet Oscar-winner Daniel Day Lewis.

Spielberg took the Wicklow-based actor on a pub crawl in his local town of Roundwood in a bid to convince him to take on the leading role of Lincoln, which eventually won him his third Academy Award.

The director also spent a considerable amount of time here filming Saving Private Ryan in Co Wexford in 1997, using Curracloe Beach as the backdrop for the movie's dramatic opening scenes.

Herald