45 Titles / 10 Regions / 2026
Going far beyond Middle-earth. Real film location guides for independent travelers, film enthusiasts, and guides — from a 20-year professional guide.
In Memoriam
NZ mourns the loss of a great Kiwi, the much loved Sam Neill.
Founder's Launch
Founder's Price: US$29 — save nearly 68% off the full collection
You've invested a lot of time and money in a trip of a lifetime. Invest a little more to make sure your high expectations are exceeded, not just met.
The first guide is ready right now — all 10 regions and 45 movies are being completed to the same standard over the coming weeks. Buy today, and every region unlocks for you as it's finished, at no extra cost.
Individual regional guides will sell separately at US$9 each once complete — over US$90 if bought one at a time.
Built from over 20 years of professional guiding across New Zealand — real driving times, real currently-operating tour recommendations.
Founding member access — as new video walkthroughs and behind-the-scenes location talks get added, you'll have access as a buyer today.
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01 / The Cinematic Scope
The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies had the most dramatic impact on New Zealand tourism of any films ever made here, and that impact is real and ongoing.
But Aotearoa has stood in for dozens of other worlds — Narnia's coastline, Wolverine's snowfields, Pandora's oceans, and ancient Japan, Rome, and Montana besides. This site exists to map all of it, not just one trilogy.
The Story
The trilogy that put New Zealand on the global cinematic map and turned the entire country into Middle-earth. Based on J.R.R. Tolkien's legendary fantasy masterpiece, this epic saga follows Frodo Baggins on his perilous quest to destroy the One Ring.
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Return to Middle-earth for the prequel that started it all. Based on Tolkien's 1937 novel, this trilogy chronicles Bilbo Baggins' unexpected journey with a company of dwarves to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug.
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Step through the wardrobe into a world of eternal winter, talking beasts, and epic battles. Based on C.S. Lewis's beloved classic novels, these films follow the Pevensie siblings as they fight alongside the great lion Aslan to liberate Narnia.
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A spectacular, action-packed reimagining of the classic 1933 monster movie. An ambitious filmmaker drags his cast and crew to the mysterious Skull Island, only to discover a prehistoric world ruled by a towering, tragic giant ape.
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A sweeping historical drama about an embittered American military officer who is captured by Samurai warriors in 19th-century Japan, ultimately embracing their code of honor.
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A haunting, intensely beautiful period drama about a mute Scottish woman sent to colonial New Zealand for an arranged marriage, who expresses herself solely through her beloved piano and a passionate affair.
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The explosive backstory of Marvel's most iconic mutant. This superhero blockbuster traces Logan's dark past, his complex relationship with his brother Victor, and the sinister military experiment that bonded adamantium to his skeleton.
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The highest-grossing cinematic epics of all time. Set on the lush, alien moon of Pandora, these sci-fi masterpieces follow Jake Sully as he defends the indigenous Na'vi people and their breathtaking oceans from human exploitation.
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Tom Cruise climbs, leaps, and flies his way through the most critically acclaimed installment of the high-octane espionage franchise, racing against time to stop a catastrophic nuclear threat.
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A heartwarming Disney live-action reimagining about the touching friendship between an orphaned boy named Pete and his best friend Elliot — who happens to be a giant, furry green dragon.
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A tense, psychologically gripping drama based on Thomas Savage's 1967 novel. Set in 1920s Montana, it explores the toxic brilliance of a cruel rancher who wages a war of intimidation against his brother's new wife and her son.
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A dark, visually dazzling psychological drama based on the infamous 1954 Parker–Hulme murder case in Christchurch. It chronicles the obsessive, fantasy-fueled friendship between two schoolgirls that takes a tragic, lethal turn.
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A delightfully campy, cult-classic supernatural comedy-horror. A fraudulent psychic investigator who can actually talk to ghosts finds himself up against a malicious, Grim Reaper-like entity that is murdering both the living and the dead.
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A high-altitude, edge-of-your-seat survival thriller. A retired climber must assemble a ragtag rescue team to ascend K2 — the world's second-highest mountain — to save his sister and her expedition crew trapped in a mountain crevasse.
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A deeply moving, globally acclaimed drama based on Witi Ihimaera's novel. It tells the story of Kahu, a young Māori girl who must fight against centuries of patriarchal tradition to fulfill her destiny as the new chief of her tribe.
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The ultimate, feel-good true story of Burt Munro, an eccentric, charming elderly man from the bottom of the world who spends years modifying his classic 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle, eventually traveling to Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats to set a land speed record.
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A terrifying, bloody horror film based on the graphic novel miniseries. An isolated Alaskan town plunged into its annual 30-day winter darkness finds itself under siege by a pack of savage, bloodthirsty vampires.
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A visually stunning and emotional adaptation of Alice Sebold's best-selling novel. It follows a murdered 14-year-old girl who watches over her grieving family — and her killer — from the vibrant, surreal landscape of the "In-Between" afterlife.
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A groundbreaking, gritty, found-footage sci-fi thriller about extraterrestrial refugees forced to live in slum-like conditions in South Africa, and the government agent who begins to mutate after being exposed to alien biotechnology.
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The blood-drenched, terrifying modern reboots of Sam Raimi's legendary horror franchise, unleashing the flesh-possessing Deadites via the ancient Book of the Dead.
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A riotously funny mockumentary following a group of centuries-old vampires who share a flat in modern-day Wellington, navigating the mundane horrors of chores, rent, and trying to get into local nightclubs.
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A hilarious and deeply touching adventure film based on Barry Crump's book Wild Pork and Watercress. A defiant city kid and his grumpy foster uncle become the targets of a nationwide manhunt after getting lost in the wild New Zealand bush.
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A visually spectacular, live-action cyberpunk adaptation of the iconic Japanese manga. In the near future, a cyber-enhanced super-soldier begins to question her past while hunting down a dangerous hacker who targets cybernetic minds.
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Ridley Scott's thrilling, terrifying return to the dark sci-fi universe he created. The crew of a colony ship lands on a pristine, uncharted paradise, only to uncover a sinister threat that forces them into a desperate fight for survival.
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A gloriously fun, action-packed creature feature where a deep-sea rescue diver is called upon to save a submarine crew from the jaws of a massive, prehistoric 75-foot shark known as the Megalodon.
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A vibrant, visually dazzling Disney fantasy epic based on Madeleine L'Engle's classic novel. A young girl, her brother, and her friend are guided by three celestial beings on a cosmic journey across time and space to rescue her missing father.
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An anarchic, adrenaline-fueled action-comedy. A mundane video game developer wakes up to find guns bolted to his hands and himself forced to compete in a real-life, city-wide deathmatch streamed online to millions.
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Disney's visually spectacular, live-action reimagining of the classic Chinese legend. A fearless young woman disguises herself as a man to enlist in the Imperial Army, steps up to save her ailing father, and becomes one of China's greatest warriors.
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The viral, sci-fi horror sensation that took the world by storm. A brilliant roboticist builds a life-like, AI-powered doll designed to be a child's greatest companion — only for the doll to develop a terrifying, overprotective streak of lethal independence.
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The blocky, pixelated universe of the world's best-selling video game comes to life in a fun, live-action cinematic adventure. A group of misfits is pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld and must master crafting to protect it from Piglins.
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The ultimate cult-classic 90s fantasy adventure shows. These action-packed series brought ancient Greek mythology to life, following the demigod Hercules and the reformed warlord Xena as they traveled the ancient world fighting for the greater good.
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For two incredible decades, the global phenomenon of color-coded, martial-arts superheroes piloting giant robotic Zords called New Zealand home. From Ninja Storm all the way through to Cosmic Fury, generations of Rangers saved the universe right here.
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A lavish, action-packed fantasy series based on Terry Goodkind's popular Sword of Truth novels. It follows a humble woodsman who discovers he is a fated hero destined to wield a magical sword and defeat a ruthless, magical tyrant.
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A stylized, visceral, and highly successful historical drama that charts the legendary story of Thrace's most famous gladiator, from his capture by Rome to his leadership of a massive, bloody slave uprising.
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A dark, moody, and critically acclaimed mystery-drama series. It follows an obsessive detective who returns to her remote childhood home to investigate the disturbing disappearance of a pregnant twelve-year-old girl.
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A vibrant, high-fantasy epic based on Terry Brooks' best-selling novels. Set thousands of years after the fall of human civilization, an elf princess, a human-elf hybrid, and a human rover embark on a quest to stop a horde of released demons.
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A gripping, mystery-laden survival drama that plays like a modern Lord of the Flies meets Lost. A group of teenage girls from wildly different backgrounds are stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash, unaware they are part of an elaborate social experiment.
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A heartwarming, beautifully realized post-apocalyptic fairytale based on the DC comic book series. Ten years after "The Great Crumble" ravaged the world, a lovable ten-year-old deer-hybrid boy leaves his forest sanctuary to search for his mother.
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The stylish, live-action adaptation of the legendary Japanese anime series. This space-western follows a ragtag group of bounty hunters as they chase down the solar system's most dangerous criminals while trying to outrun their own dark pasts.
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A glossy, binge-worthy high school mystery thriller based on Karen M. McManus's best-selling novel. Five students walk into detention, but only four walk out alive — leaving everyone a suspect in a high-stakes whodunit.
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A hilarious, heartwarming, and wonderfully queer pirate comedy loosely based on the true adventures of Stede Bonnet, an 18th-century aristocrat who abandons his wealthy life to become the "Gentleman Pirate," eventually crossing paths with the infamous Blackbeard.
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The most expensive television production ever mounted. Set thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit, this sweeping epic chronicles the history of the Second Age of Middle-earth, the forging of the rings, and the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron.
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A wildly imaginative, comedic time-travel adventure series adapted from Terry Gilliam's beloved 1981 film. The story follows a brilliant 11-year-old history buff who discovers a time portal in his bedroom and joins a ragtag group of historical thieves.
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A pioneering surf documentary that introduced the world to New Zealand's Raglan and its now-legendary left-hand point break, following two American surfers on a round-the-world hunt for the perfect wave.
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A comedy about three childhood friends who reunite after a loss and set off on a treasure hunt for D.B. Cooper's legendary hijacking loot, deep in what the film calls the Oregon wilderness.
A catalogue of 45 productions. Full in depth information, stories, anecdotes and fascinating facts of every movie in the regional guides.
02 / Expanding Now
First-hand accounts, behind-the-scenes logistics, and stories from the people who were actually on the ground.
Includes details on the best regional accommodation, local hosts, and expert driver-guides.
Dedicated insights into New Zealand's studios, directors, and producers.
03 / Register Interest
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