Plans for an all-female film adaptation of William Golding's novel Lord of Flies have sparked a social media backlash.

In the 1954 book, a group of boys stranded on a remote island try to create a social order as they wait to be rescued but devolve into savages.

US writing and directing duo Scott McGehee and David Siegel have said their new take will stay true to the post-war classic apart from boys becoming girls.

The pair told Deadline it feels like the right time for a modern adaptation.

"It is a timeless story that is especially relevant today," Siegel said.

McGehee added: "Taking the opportunity to tell it in a way it hasn't been told before, with girls rather than boys, is that it shifts things in a way that might help people see the story anew."

But the prospect of the females replacing boys in a new film remake is galling to many fans of the book, who took to social media to express their discontent.

But others were more optimistic about the prospect of an all-female ensemble.