While the glittering premieres are being held overseas, the New Zealand “back office” of two potentially massive blockbusters is again celebrating Kiwi-made films hitting the world stage.
Less than two years after the Lord of the Rings trilogy’s world domination culminated in a flood of Oscars, King Kong and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are set to go head-to-head at the global box office.
Both big budget extravaganzas are made by New Zealand directors and mostly shot in their native land.
New York rolled out the red carpet for Peter Jackson’s ambitious remake of the 1933 gorilla movie classic earlier this week and London saw the premiere of Andrew Adamson’s adaptation of the CS Lewis children’s classic.
Without as much fanfare, a clutch of other New Zealand-made films including Roger Donaldson’s World’s Fastest Indian and Vincent Ward’s River Queen are in cinemas or coming soon.
“It’s the culmination of a very busy period for the New Zealand film industry,” says Film New Zealand chief executive Judith McCann.
“The efforts that have been put in terms of government funding and development of talent, attracting back talent like Roger Donaldson that have gone overseas is showing fruit.”
Both the Australian-born Donaldson and Shrek director Adamson returned to New Zealand to make their films long after building successful Hollywood careers.
The Lord of the Rings’ success has made Wellington-based Jackson a powerful figure in Hollywood and bolstered the reputation of New Zealand for international filmmaking.