“It also happens to be one of the first places I ever shot the character of Gollum 25 years ago.
“It has been an absolute joy to return.”
Location manager Mike Monro said the crew received a warm welcome from the community and enjoyed the hospitality.
“The Ruapehu region offers such diverse and unique landscapes for filming, as well as comprehensive infrastructure to support a film crew. It’s been a pleasure being back in the area,” he said.
They were fortunate with “compliant weather” during filming, Monro said.
Ruapehu was used as a location in the original trilogy. Image / New Line
Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton said it was “certainly exciting” to know filming had taken place in the district.
“We haven’t traditionally had a lot of filming in the area and, when we have, this magnitude of filming sort of brings life to the community in terms of not only economic life but also enthusiasm as a destination,” Kirton said.
He said the Mt Ruapehu backdrop had been a huge attraction.
“We just open doors to those who are involved and if they can stay here and provide some economy to the area, they are more than welcome,” he said.
Kirton was mayor when the original trilogy was filmed between 1999 and 2001.
He was excited for people worldwide to see Ruapehu on screen again.
“It’s a destination for people; once they see it from overseas, they say ‘wow, we’d like to go there’ and start googling different activities and what it’s all about,” Kirton said.
“That’s what we’re doing; trying to showcase to the wider world. If we can have filming people coming into the area, that is what we like.”
Ben Wiggins, managing director of Ohakune’s TCB Ski Board & Bike, said he had seen a number of film crew members around town and joked he saw Gollum catching a fish in the river.
“There’s been a bunch of cast and crew that have been eating at local establishments, especially all the production crew,” he said.
“I haven’t spotted anyone super famous but it’s not really in the Kiwi nature to spot someone and rush them.
“Ohakune is pretty cruisy like that; everyone is down to go skiing and boarding and if someone famous is in having dinner, you let them kick back, relax and enjoy themselves – that’s what makes this place cool and fun.”
Colin Fredericksen, owner of Horopito Motors, known as Smash Palace, said some of the crew had explored the car yard.
He said there had been a “hive of activity” while filming took place.
WingNut Films said some of the region’s landscape would debut on the world stage when the film is released in theatres on December 17, 2027.
The confirmed cast so far includes Serkis, Sir Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Kate Winslet, Anya Taylor-Joy and Jamie Dornan.
Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.