Move over, Smaug - there's a new fire-breathing beast in town, here to promote New Zealand's tourism sector.
In new Disney film Pete's Dragon, New Zealand stands in for Millhaven, a logging town in the US northwest. New Zealand Tourism is using the film's release to push the country's clean-green image, just like it did with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
It has released a video, A Dragon's Eye View of New Zealand, showing Pete's dragon - named Elliot - soaring across the Marlborough Sounds, Wellington, Rotorua and the North Island's volcanic peaks.
In the Bay of Islands he approaches a marae, slowing down to be welcomed by local Maori.
The live action Disney movie stars Oscar-winner Robert Redford, Jurassic World actress Bryce Dallas Howard, Interstellar actor Wes Bentley and Kiwi Star Trek actor Karl Urban. The film introduces Oakes Fegley in the lead role of Pete. Director David Lowrey shot the film in a variety of provincial New Zealand locations, including Tapanui in Otago, and Tokoroa and Rotorua in the central North Island. Weta Digital created Elliot the dragon, seen in all his glory in this Tourism New Zealand video. The filmmakers head back to New Zealand this week in time for a NZ premiere at Wellington's Embassy Theatre on Friday night, then south to Tapanui to share the film with locals ahead of its full New Zealand release.
Newshub.
