Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with some info on two very high profile films about to get underway in the beautiful land of New Zealand. I fell in love with New Zealand last summer when I was lucky enough to spend 2 months absorbing the beautiful pollution-free air, water and country. Wellington in particular grabbed my fancy. Almost immediately I felt at home. I'm planning a return trip in the near future, so while there maybe I'll be able to dig up some info Peter Jackson's KING KONG or the NARNIA film. We'll see... But in the mean time we have some more really neat looking banners from the New York Licensing Show for THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE and a little bit on the progress of KONG. Up first are them purty banners!
Narnia Banners and Start of Production Announced
CLICK HERE FOR ASLAN IN ALL HIS KINGLY GLORY!!!
We've gotten ahold of a few more banners from the New York Licensing Show! They feature production art of The White Witch, her castle, Aslan, a Unicorn, a boy, possibly Edmund or Peter, a Narnian Army, and another Narnian that goes unnamed. This is a very exciting time.
They begin filming on 28 June, with about 2/3 of the production based
in Auckland. Then head to the South Island around mid-October to
complete filming. The movie opens in the States in December, 2005,
with many international territories also opening day-and-date.
Next up is some stuff sent over by the good folks over at TheOneRing.net who have a report from the beautiful city of Wellington on the movements of that big forkin' ape... Ah, Wellington... I miss my garlic mayo fries, dammit! Sigh... Anyway, there are some pics of the outside of the set and some info on the official beginning of production, although I know for a fact that they've been shooting miniatures for quite a while now. Little tidbits on KONG for you folks below!
Full article: CLICK IT HERE!!!
I sent a quick report a few weeks ago about the work going on around Wellington NZ for King Kong... here's a quick update, and a few pics... :
At the carpark behind the Stone Stree Studios in Miramar - The Mumak harness that I reported was being stored at the back of the carpark has now in fact, been taken away. The Three Foot Six truck marked "Genetics Departement" (???) that was parked there has also gone. A small shed that was located beside the back gate is also gone. What has been placed in the carpark will now prevent any more cool photos from that perspective - a two-high stack of ships containers, filled with large barrels filled with water (presumably for steadying the stack). I'm assuming it's there for giant outdoor blue-screens like they did for LOTR. One of the crew told me they're going to be building it four high. :(
Also at the back of the carpark, still "kinda" visible despite the container wall is a new structure, presumably a set of some sort. It's about 20 meters high, and appeared over the course of last week. I figured I'd have enough time to come back and photograph it, but the container wall took only two days and surpised me.
As for the boat I wrote about previously, Dan Hennah himself has been sighted there (not by me though), apparently doing a spot of welding the the front of the boat has been covered in some sort of thick metal plating. Not sure why, though.
Also in town, there was a film crew yesterday, busy filming a street scene on Mount Victoria, (in front of the old catholic church, St Gerards). I heard it was a New York scene for King Kong, but can't confirm that. I've also heard that filming won't begin until August, so at least one of my sources is wrong. :)
Enjoy the photos, I'll post more as it happens.
