{"id":446191,"date":"2026-01-30T00:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T00:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/446191\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T00:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T00:04:12","slug":"on-the-set-of-the-wrecking-crew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/446191\/","title":{"rendered":"on the set of The Wrecking Crew"},"content":{"rendered":"

Set visits are a fun notion in theory, but tend to be punishingly boring. A typical experience involves lots\u2014and I mean, lots\u2014of waiting around, only to spend a few minutes observing an actor spout inconsequential dialogue while crew members in cargo shorts tell you to shush. So I didn\u2019t have great expectations when I was given the opportunity to watch some of The Wrecking Crew<\/a> being filmed. To my great surprise, however, I had a blast.<\/p>\n

The film stars Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista as estranged Hawaiian brothers who reunite following their father\u2019s mysterious death. It was filmed in both Hawaii and (mostly) in and around Auckland, doubling for the Hawaiian Islands. Kiwis should be easily able to spot Piha\u2019s iconic Lion Rock in the trailer, though it looks pretty darn Hawaiian.<\/p>\n

A throwback to old school action comedies, it is indeed the action part that\u2019s in full swing when I show up to a massive location shoot on Queen Street, in the South Auckland suburb of \u014ct\u0101huhu. It\u2019s been transformed into downtown Honolulu, primarily through replaced signage and modified store fronts. The \u014ct\u0101huhu RSA is now a Chinese Takeaway; CGI will later add tall buildings and a mountainous background.<\/p>\n

The scene being shot takes place in the immediate aftermath of a collision between two huge trucks. A massive black Dodge Ram is ramming another big SUV-type truck, pushing it down the road on its side. While this is happening, the Suburban\u2019s driver (Bautista) climbs vertically out of the driver\u2019s window, stands upright and fires a gun at the driver of the Dodge as both trucks careen down the street. Performing this stunt himself, Bautista is attached to a harness that will be removed in post-production.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

As a child of the action comedy-infused \u201980s and \u201990s, seeing this in real-life is about as close to filmmaking nirvana as I can conceive. The action is repeated several times, and Bautista barely looks like he\u2019s breaking a sweat.<\/p>\n

Although we have globally respected production crews in New Zealand, these sorts of automobile stunts are relatively rare here. Overseas experts were brought in to help upskill the local stunties, conveying knowledge that can be integrated into future productions.<\/p>\n

The local contingent of the film\u2019s cast is led by Temuera Morrison (playing the governor of Hawaii), Roimata Fox and Frankie Adams. The latter two are filming when I show up for a second set visit later in November, this time at Auckland Film Studios in Henderson.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

From left to right: Roimata Fox, Dave Bautista, Jason Mamoa, Frankie Adams<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s villain, Marcus Robichaux (Danish actor Claes Bang), has captured Fox and Adams\u2019 characters\u2014who play Bautista\u2019s wife and cousin, respectively\u2014and is taunting Momoa\u2019s character via a video call from his office\/lair. Classic action movie villain stuff. The women are far from damsels in distress, though, and are giving as good as they get.<\/p>\n

During a break, Fox tells me that she\u2019s as stoked as I am to be on the set of an action comedy being shot in New Zealand: \u201cBeing Kiwi-born, I just didn\u2019t know that this realm would be open for someone like me. The fact that we\u2019re actually doing it\u2014not only for me, but for my son as well, because we love the genre\u2014it\u2019s just the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continues: \u201cI was lucky enough to work with Jason (Momoa) on Chief of War<\/a>, so it\u2019s been awesome to see him transform his character in this film\u2026And then working with Dave (Bautista) has just been a dream come true\u2026he\u2019s such an incredible actor\u2014one of the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

From left to right: Jason Mamoa, Frankie Adams, Temuera Morrison, Dave Bautista, Roimata Fox<\/p>\n

The Wrecking Crew<\/a> is Momoa\u2019s third New Zealand-shot production in a row (following Minecraft<\/a> and Chief of War)<\/a>. Fox confirms that the actor\u2019s obvious affection for our country manifests on set, saying he \u201cbrings such an understanding of the culture\u201d and is \u201can honorary M\u0101ori through and through\u2026I can\u2019t imagine Aotearoa without him now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adams\u2014a New Zealand Samoan actor who starred in several seasons of acclaimed American sci-fi drama series The Expanse<\/a>, and will soon be seen in the live action version of Moana<\/a>\u2014is equally thrilled to be here, though not as much of an action movie fiend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love to laugh (but) I\u2019m not too obsessed with watching people beat each other up,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I think the combination seems to work and it\u2019s fun to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adams says she was a little nervous about working with Momoa and Bautista, but \u201cthey were both so warm and friendly, and we\u2019ve had some good laughs together on set.\u201d She thinks that Kiwis in particular will respond to the humour in the film: \u201cI think there are some really funny moments\u2026Watching Dave and Jason go at each other will be a joy for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Set visits are a fun notion in theory, but tend to be punishingly boring. A typical experience involves…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446192,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,427],"class_list":["post-446191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}