22 Dec 2013

Hollywood movie to be filmed in NZ

3:15 pm on 22 December 2013

A Hollywood movie, Z for Zachariah, is to be filmed in New Zealand.

The film, which is being produced by the Hollywood star Tobey McGuire, begins filming in Canterbury next month.

Production designer Matt Nunn and director Craig Zobel scout locations for Z for Zachariah.

Production designer Matt Nunn and director Craig Zobel scout locations for Z for Zachariah. Photo: FILMNZ

It features a host of top Hollywood acting talent.

The cast includes Chris Pine, who played Captain Kirk in the recent Star Trek movies, as well as Amanda Seyfried and Chiwelel Ejiofor, who starred in Twelve Years A Slave.

Z for Zachariah is based on Robert O'Brien's children's novel, set in a remote valley which survives a nuclear holocaust.

The Canterbury locations, on Banks Peninsula and in mid-Canterbury, were chosen after a trip last month to check out suitable sites.

The film's director, Craig Zobel, says the scenery needed to match some of the more beautiful parts of the United States, and New Zealand has the lush, vibrant and diverse locations required, all within easy reach of each other.