New Zealand Television News Show Holmes featured an article on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which is set to filmed in Hobsonville, Auckland.
New Zealand Director Andrew Adamson of Shrek fame will be filming almost all of the film at the Hobsonville Airbase and the Defence Quarters located there. The South Island will give up its identity of Middle Earth, as it will be the new star of Narnia.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will feature a largely American cast and production is to start sometime next year, with a December 2005 release for the USA and New Zealand. Surprisingly enough, Peter Jackson’s King Kong will be released in cinemas also in December 2005 – so there will be two New Zealand epics battling off!
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will be the second US film to qualify for the New Zealand government’s new film grants scheme. The first film to qualify was Boogeyman, a horror movie from the producer of Spider-Man, Sam Raimi.
Special Effects Studio WETA, who have done all effects for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy will do effects for both King Kong and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
