The movie, "Easter Sixteen," will star Gary Oldman as James Connolly and Guy Pearce as Padraig Pearse and will cost £15 million to make.

The drama has been delayed on a number of occasions in recent years but will get under way next year and is expected to take 10 weeks to shoot at a location in Ireland not yet revealed.

The film marks the directorial debut of Irish actor Jason Barry, best known for his role in the movie Titanic.

Based on the pivotal events in Irish history, the film tells the story of an unlikely group of would-be revolutionaries with little in common beyond their determination to fight for a united Ireland.

English actor Ian Hart has been lined up to play Thomas Clarke while Jason Barry will also appear in the film as Roger Casement.

The film, which has been written by Irish author Brendan Foley, has already caused controversy with producer Nicola Charles rejecting criticism that the script will romanticize violence.

"It's a film that has to be made and Foley has spent 14 years working on the script", she said.

"The film is really the prequel to Michael Collins. Our final scene is their opening scene.

"It's a human interest story and in no way does it glorify violence. It's not about violence and revolution, it's about hope and heroism."

"Easter Sixteen" is understood to be one of six film scripts about the Easter Rising set to hit the big screen in the run up to centenary celebrations in 2016.

A musical based on the Easter Rising is also in production in London.

The producers have scheduled the musical's world premiere to take place in Dublin in 2011 but are also involved in a fly-on-the-wall TV documentary that follows their work in getting it to the stage.

Earlier this year a musical about the life of Michael Collins opened to critical acclaim in Cork.

Meanwhile, a new book on Eamon de Valera, who commanded the Boland's Mills garrison during the Rising, claims that the American-born future taoiseach and president of Ireland was in fact a British spy.

According to the Irish Independent, the book, "England's Greatest Spy: Eamon de Valera," claims that de Valera was terrified of being executed after the Rising and was "turned" in exchange for his life. For some years afterwards, the book claims, Dev was under British control.

The paper reported that the 470-page hardback is published by Stacey International, a London publisher specializing in politics and history, and that the author is a retired U.S. naval officer and historian, John Turi, from Princeton, New Jersey.