100% Pure Cinematography

Added: (Thu Jan 11 2001)

Pressbox (Press Release) - 9 January 2000

100 % PURE CINEMATOGRAPHY
New Zealand plays a winning role on the International film market

Move-over Hollywood, Bollywood and London, Wellywood – Wellington, New Zealand is currently taking centre-stage as one of the world’s hottest filming destinations.

The movie trilogy Lord of the Rings has recently been filmed at various locations on both the North and South Islands of New Zealand and is reputed to be the biggest film project ever undertaken south of the equator. This high-budget movie is reported to have cost at least £112 million to make and is expected to rival the likes of Star Wars at the box office.

For 404 days last year, New Zealand director Peter Jackson, (Heavenly Creatures, The Frighteners), and his cast and crew were scattered across New Zealand simultaneously shooting the three instalments of the trilogy, Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, the first of which is due for release in the UK in December 2001. The cast includes highly acclaimed actors and actresses Sir Ian McKellen, Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler and Elijah Wood.

The emotionally charged action-adventure story, Vertical Limit is another film expected to deliver in the UK when it opens on January 19th. Although the film’s narrative is set in the Himalayas, it was actually shot on New Zealand’s Southern Alps and around Queenstown, in the South Island. This dramatic backdrop proved successful in creating a realistic set, transforming Mount Cook into the world’s second highest mountain, K2.

Other successes filmed in New Zealand include the youth fantasy/sci-fi television series Xena, Warrior Princess and Hercules, which were shot west of Auckland, in the North Island – close to where The Piano was filmed. Both have become global cult television shows in recent years.
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New Zealand makes an ideal film set because it offers some of the most diverse backdrops in the world. The landscape is packed with magnificent raw scenery: craggy coastlines, sweeping beaches, primeval forests, snow-capped mountains, bubbling volcanic pools, fast-flowing rivers and glacier-fed lakes, all beneath a brilliant blue sky.

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Note to Editors: For further press information, please contact: Donna Lewis/Emma Jones, The Saltmarsh Partnership, tel: 020 7928 1600 or e-mail: donna@saltmarshpr.co.uk

Transparencies of Vertical Limit showing film action on the Southern Alps are available on request. A press screening of Vertical Limit will take place on Friday 12 January at 9.00 am at the Odeon Cinema, Kensington High Street, London W8. To confirm your seat, please call the Sony Press Office direct on: 020 7533 1092.