Wellingtons full day lord of the rings locations tour. Youve got two options a location tour that will visit some of the scenes used for filming the lotr and hobbit movies plus a visit to weta studio tours to do the. Take a behindthescenes look at the making of the lord of the rings film trilogy when visiting director peter jacksons specialeffects studio, weta cave. Amazon studios will begin filming its lord of the rings television show in auckland the announcement was made on wednesday by amazon studios after months of discussions with government, auckland. Discover the lord of the rings filming locations tourism. Loved seeing the film sites of lotr and seeing the outside of studios and hearing history of how peter jackson started.
How did new zealand become a popular destination to film. Wellington, new zealand in the footsteps of lord of the. Join this unique half day film locations experience with. Guide to the lord of the rings in wellington nz pocket. Izzat design, whose artists created props for films such as avatar, the lord of the rings and king kong, has contributed to a range of exhibitions at te papa, including recreating seven extinct birds of new zealand for the blood, earth, fire. Explore key sites in the filmmaking process with your specialist lord of the rings guide. With this tour, you can embark on a full or half day tour and explore the film sets all over wellington city, including some of the iconic film. Lord of the rings tours experience the authentic film. Includes a return trip from the wellington cbd to miramar, where youll enjoy our weta cave workshop tour and exclusive documentary. We were lucky enough to have a designer and model maker nat give us the tour, and she did a great job of explaining the way props are created, from sketch to the finished item, with all of the various manufacturing processes involved. On a tour of the new zealand countryside, see recreated scenes of middleearth including the hutt valley and the greenbelt, take a forest walk through tolkiens rivendell, and step into weta studios for a movie production tour of digital special effects. Lord of the rings locations map new zealand travel insider. Middleearth filming location full day 2020 wellington.
This is the best way to see wellington s lord of the rings locations in half a day with the experience of our knowledgeable lord of the rings specialist guides. The films are subtitled the fellowship of the ring 2001, the two towers 2002 and the return of the king 2003. The film community make their mark on wellington not just through movies, but also through their art. Join a trilogy expert guide and visit the suburb of miramar, now also known as wellywood, the heart of the new zealand film industry. Eastbourne location the eastbourne district of wellington was where sir ian mckellan stayed during the filming of lord of the rings and is close to many of the films major locations. Weta workshop tours in wellington new zealands biggest. Our half day lord of the rings location tour brings the best locations in wellington city.
The forest can smell very nice on a hot summer day. Set in middleearth, the film follows a group of hobbits, elves, men, dwarves, and wizards who form a fellowship. Against the odds he has managed to become an alist director in. The lord of the rings abbreviated lotr is a film series in the high fantasy or epic fantasy genre, based on novels by j. The lord of the rings is a film series of three epic fantasy adventure films directed by peter jackson, based on the novel written by j. After we pick you up in the city, you drive past the embassy cinema, which hosted the world premieres of the return of. So it comes to no surprise that wellington was a central hub for the making of the lord of the rings. See and experience some of the spectacular landscapes featured in the films. The film series was recorded in new zealand, and the sets are today among the most visited tourist attractions of the. Wellingtons half day lord of the rings tour including. Wellington is worlds coolest little film capital wednesday, march 14, 2018 updated over the past decade new zealands capital city wellington sometimes referred to as wellywood has risen to become a film production and screen technology hot spot. Amazons tv spinoff series will be filmed in auckland. This includes where the very first day of filming lord of the rings was completed on october 11, 1999.
Its one of the worlds biggest blockbuster film franchises and it was filmed largely right here in little old wellington. The epicenter of all things hobbit in new zealand, this picturesque private farmland was transformed into hobbitonhome to bilbo, frodo, et alfor the lord of the rings trilogy. Explore middleearth on this lord of the rings location tour. This half day tour takes you to the best locations in wellington city. Best wellington lord of the rings walking tour excursion. Wellington rover tours is based in new zealands capital, wellington, on the north island. Providing design and manufacturing for film, television and creative industries for over 20 years.
Lord of the rings movie shore excursion in wellington. The complex includes four purposebuilt stages, including the massive 24,100 square foot kong sound stage. Stone street studios wellington, new zealand stone street sits at the hub of the film making community in wellington, new zealand. Wellingtons lord of the rings half day tour wellington. Follow in the footsteps of bilbo, frodo and gandalf on a halfday lord of the rings tour from wellington. Home to the famous lord of the rings movie and the award winning weta studio, wellington is a place that is bustling with things to do, especially for a lord of the rings fan and an avid movie goer.
Amazons lord of the rings tv show to be filmed in new. Produced and distributed by new line cinema with the coproduction of wingnut films, it is an international venture between new. The lord of the rings trilogi is instructed by peter jackson born in new zealand and most of its scenes has been filmed at various locations in new zealand. We will show you where the production studios are situated. In the city often described as wellywood, wellington is not only the political capital of new zealand but the moviemaking capital. The tour is delivered by a staff member, and as such youll get an individuals view, not corporate speak.
Tolkien, including the hobbit in 1937 and the lord of the rings, published in 3 volumes in the 1950s, set in a fictional world known as middleearth. If you fancy yourself a bit of a frodo, the best way to see all the iconic shoot locations from the lord of the rings trilogy is with rover rings tours. The hobbit law has become an object of fresh public interest. We visited the weta studio where they make the kit and special effects for the films. Our tours include lord of the rings filming locations, the local film industry, and weta cave, plus we offer special interest tours as requested. The lord of the rings locations for filming matamata. You will experience the best of wellington, take a bush or beach walk, view the sights, as we travel around our film capital. While the top of mount victoria in wellington is not a lord of the rings location, the forest outer shire around the hill is. Get a unique behindthescenes glimpse into the creativity of weta workshop the fivetime academy awardwinning design studio and practical effects facility. Some of the main parts of the lord of the rings film were shot in the following regions of wellington and other nearby areas of new zealands north island. Wellington lord of the rings lord of the rings in wellington.
Its a glimpse into the creative and filmmaking processes. Weta workshop is the home of movie magic in wellington. Travel to locations used for filming the lord of the rings trilogy around queenstown. Lord of the rings, world premiere in wellington youtube. Wellingtons lord of the rings locations tour including lunch. In the footsteps of the lord of the rings on this exclusive excursion you will travel north through the hutt valley to see where many famous lord of the rings scenes were filmed. However, if you are visiting wellington and in particular the forest, do not forget to go up to the top of mount victoria to enjoy.
In addition to reprising the role in the hobbit series, wood also played ryan in the fx television comedy wilfred 2011 and voiced beck in the disney xd animated. This is the best way to see wellingtons lord of the rings locations in half a day with the experience of our knowledgeable lord of the rings specialist guides. Elijah wood is an american actor best known for portraying frodo baggins in peter jacksons blockbuster lord of the rings film trilogy. Recreate scenes from the lord of the rings book and movies, and see how middleearth was created in the beautiful countryside outside wellington. Thunderbirds are go, both packed full of props, weapons, models and costumes from film and television. Heres how new zealands lord of the rings hobbit law is. On 1 december, 2003 wellington hosted the world premiere of the lord of the rings. Stone street studios has hosted productions such as the lord of the rings trilogy, king kong, avatar, the hobbit trilogy, petes dragon and ghost in the shell and is only a short distance from the multiaward winning facilities of park road post production, portsmouth rentals, weta workshop and weta digital.
Lord of the rings, the return of the king, world premiere held in wellington 2003. The lord of the rings trilogy was filmed entirely in new zealand. Travel around in a comfortable vehicle, stopping at locations that served as the shire, river anduin, helm deep, rivendell and more. Weta workshop has a constantly growing list of blockbuster credits to its name, applying its craftsmanship to blade runner 2049, avatar, the chronicles of narnia and more. Jrr tolkiens estate is suing the studio behind the lord of the rings trilogy and threatening to block production on the planned prequel, the hobbit over claims it. Tolkiens high fantasy epic the lord of the rings, comprising the fellowship of the ring and the first half of the two towers. The hutt valley is a large area of fairly flat land in the hutt river valley in the wellington region.
Lord of the rings movie premiere in wellington new zealand. Join us for our captivating halfday lord of the rings tour. Award winning crew, purposebuilt tv and film studios, stateoftheart post production, vfx and mixing facilities, cutting edge technology and diverse locations are all on your doorstep when you. We are not film buffs and not wildly interested in the lord of the rings but you could not fail to be after. The best way to discover the sights of wellington is on one of our wellington lord of the rings movie tours. Weta workshop wellington aktuelle 2020 lohnt es sich. Lord of the rings halfday tour from wellington explore middleearth and see famous sights from the lord of the rings movies take a behindthescenes tour of the weta workshop, the studio that produced the special effects for the lotr trilogy discover key lotrrelated locations such as weta workshop, mount victoria, and the outershire. Kaitoke regional park shortly outside of wellington is a small park called kaitoke regional park. The official world premiere was on dec 17 2003 but the actual world premiere was already dec 1 in wellington new zealand. The original lord of the rings films were produced in new zealand. Get a behindthescenes look at nine the lord of the rings locations around wellington and learn about the filming of movies based on the popular books. The guardian named weta workshop one of the top 10 studio tours in the world.
Crowds massing close to 120,000 lined wellingtons streets to salute the lord of the rings filmmakers and stars as they paraded through the central city in open top classic cars. Events the lord of the rings the return of the king. Lord of the rings studio tours wellington wellington movie tours. Wellington based sir peter jackson has completed many highly successful major film projects in new zealand including king kong, the hobbit and the lord of the rings trilogies and james cameron continues with his avatar movies. The workshop is best known for its academy awardwinning work on the lord of the rings and the hobbit trilogies, but you certainly will have seen plenty of movies and shows theyve had a hand in. While the movie business centre is offlimits to visitors, the lord of the rings pilgrims can experience the weta cave. The lord of the rings is a 1978 adult animated high fantasy film directed by ralph bakshi. As you channel your inner gandalf or frodo, hear fun facts and insider commentary from a guide. When it comes to the screen industry, wellington has it all. There were as many as nine individual units filming in the remotest and scenic areas. Today we are checking out not one but two weta workshop tours in wellington to see the behindthescenes of the lord of the rings and thunderbirds are go. Discover the lord of the rings filming locations tourism new. Explore 20 years of creativity with the weta studio tour and miniatures stage tour.
Lord of the rings filming locations new zealand part 12. Wellington is home to weta workshop, weta digital and the miramar film empire which is central to the hobbit trilogy production. Weta studio tours your gateway to immersive filmmaking experiences in wellington, new zealand. See middleearth on this scenic tour of the lord of the rings outdoor filming locations in the wellington area. Lord of the rings tourism travel guide at wikivoyage. The company offers a fullday and a halfday tour of lord of the rings filming locations around wellington.
851 916 750 145 838 1397 867 205 88 174 1518 845 712 32 526 223 151 763 283 1112 870 670 35 1598 1186 383 1504 1274 187 1350 74 600 465 1105 213 337 1 930