Revenue – largely digital effects work underpinned by the Government’s Screen Production Rebate scheme that covers 20% of post-production film work – has remained flat over the period, with $437m reported in 2023 and $464m in 2026.
The company’s financial struggles come as the wider industry grapples with a decline in cinema primacy and profitability, and a splintering of audiences across multiple streaming platforms.
Accounts for the company said: “While the Group is forecasting taxable profits over the medium term, continuing industry pressures have meant that projected profits are lower than those forecast in the prior year. While there is still a path to utilising available tax losses, the timeframe to do so has extended.”
The accounts noted the company’s ability to utilise earlier tax losses is dwindling, with $15m written off this year and $21.5m the year prior.
Wētā FX was heavily involved in – and earned considerable revenues from – the Avatar film franchise. Sequels to the first film in 2009 had a more than decade-long gestation before finally rolling out from 2022.
Wētā FX won Oscars for best visual effects for its work on Avatar: The Way of Water and last year’s Avatar: Fire and Ash, and the company is said to employ more than 2000 people.
Avatar director James Cameron, who was granted New Zealand citizenship last year, told a film industry podcast in May that decisions on further films in the series were still to be made and if they proceeded would have to be made “in half the time and for two-thirds of the cost”.
Matt Nippert is an Auckland-based investigations reporter covering white-collar and transnational crimes and the intersection of politics and business. He has won more than a dozen awards for his journalism – including twice being named Reporter of the Year – and joined the Herald in 2014 after having spent the decade prior reporting from business newspapers and national magazines.
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