Diverse movies show New Zealand is more than just a film location
New Zealand has been the location for a wide range of high-profile movies such as Wolverine, Lord of the Rings – The Trilogy, and The Hobbit Trilogy, but the nation also has a diverse cinema industry in its own right.
Low in budget, high in quality
While New Zealand is associated with big-budget blockbusters from the US, its domestic cinema has found a niche in movies that are low budget, but remain high quality across a range of genres. This includes the psychological thriller Coming Home in the Dark, which is based on the short story of the same name by New Zealand novelist Owen Marshall.
The diversity of cinema in New Zealand is further underlined by the musical drama Daffodils, which, like Coming Home in the Dark, was made for less than $1 million. The movie was inspired by a true story and is based on the Bullet Heart Club play, which won an award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The diverse nature of entertainment
Another area of the entertainment industry that features a diverse selection of genres is the iGaming industry. The slot titles cover a wide range of topics, from officially branded movie and TV slots such as The Expendables Megaways and Game of Thrones, to TV quiz shows like Who wants to be a Millionaire Megaways. These slot titles also lean heavily on popular genres such as fantasy, horror, westerns and ancient mythology.
These slot games are available to play at an increasing number of online casinos accessible to players in New Zealand, with the best ranked by Fintan Costello, managing director of BonusFinder. As is the case for the movie industry, slot games must cover a range of themes in order to appeal to the widest possible audience of players around the world.
New Zealand cinema can also represent the history of the country powerfully, exemplified by Muru, the action drama, which examines the real-life 2007 police raids of the Tūhoe people of Rūātoki. The movie, which was directed and co-written by Tearepa Kahi, has been praised for its unflinching portrayal of the police.
A versatile New Zealand star
The diversity of New Zealand TV and cinema is probably best illustrated by Taika Waititi, the filmmaker, actor, and comedian, who has excelled in a wide range of genres. He starred in the horror comedy TV series What We Do in the Shadows alongside his roles as co-writer and co-director, while he has also directed the superhero movies Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder. The diverse nature of his output is underlined by his role as co-creator of the American dramedy Reservation Dogs.
New Zealand will undoubtedly continue to be a popular location for the movie industry, not only due to the stunning landscape and the influence of Wellington-born filmmaker Peter Jackson, the director of the influential Lord of the Rings trilogy. The New Zealand government has made the country attractive to the movie industry through its generous tax breaks for studios, using the nation as a film location.
One of the latest to take advantage of the benefits of New Zealand as a film backdrop and a primary production location is the 2022 slasher movie X, which stars Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, and Martin Henderson and was written and directed by Ti West. New Zealand continues to cement its position as a popular film location.
