Oprah jets in
Talk show queen joins Reese Witherspoon for NZ movie
Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon and talk show queen Oprah Winfrey are setting up base in New Zealand to shoot a blockbuster movie.
Oscar-winning Witherspoon and TV icon Winfrey are in Queenstown for a two-week filming trip.
Filming is understood to be slated for Hunter Valley Station, a farm next to the lake, as part of the upcoming $143 million adventure movie, A Wrinkle in
Time. The film is an adaptation of a 1963 novel about a young woman whose scientist father disappears after working on a secret project.
Other high-profile Hollywood stars understood to be appearing in the film include Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine, Zach Galifianakis, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Michael Pena.
Lake Hawea Hotel owner Kellianne Karatau said she had seen filming equipment being moved around and the presence of the two big names was creating a buzz in the area.
“There’s quite a bit of talk about it,” Karatau said. “I know the farm they’re staying on. I’ve seen bits of equipment being moved around and things like that. “It’s an amazing place to film.” Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Jim Boult said the news was great PR for the area and Witherspoon and Winfrey were very welcome in the town.
“We often get high-profile film people coming here to shoot movies.
“There’s a long history of movie production in the area with The Lord of the Rings,” he said.
Luggage packed and ready to travel, an excited Witherspoon — who won an Academy Award in 2006 for her portrayal of June Carter in Walk the Line — took to social media about her first trip to New Zealand.
“I’m off to New Zealand! My first visit ever. What should I do? Where should I go? Did I pack too much?” she wrote.
Kaling, star of hit series The Mindy Project, has also announced her working trip on social media — and Witherspoon replied to say she couldn’t wait to go exploring with her.
The Otago Daily Times reported the celebrities will be housed at a private home in Wanaka, with another source saying the filming will be at Hunter Valley Station.
Fortinbras Productions, a Disney Enterprises company, was given permission to film by Queenstown Lakes District Council on January 25.