Delays push Caro’s Mulan to end of year
The delay of the next Hollywood blockbuster scheduled to shoot on our shores means it will be a quiet start to 2018 for the New Zealand film industry.
Confirming earlier reports out of America that part of Disney’s live-action Mulan remake will be shot here, New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) chief executive Dave Gibson said the originally proposed January visit had been pushed back to the second-half of the year.
That was a result of the production taking longer than expected to find their leading lady – revealed only a few weeks ago as Chinese actress Liu Yifei.
Although disappointed that the delay meant they couldn’t continue the momentum built up this year’s quartet of big international movies – A Wrinkle in Time, Mission: Impossible 6, Meg and Mortal Engines – Gibson, who departs his post early next month, was delighted with how New Zealand was going in attracting productions to shoot here.
‘‘Numerically we’ve had similar or more than Australia, which given its size is a pretty good result. I heard just recently they were bemoaning the fact they were getting beaten by New Zealand. The trick for us is to try to spread thing evenly. The first-half of the year is looking a little bit light. Mortal Engines is now in postproduction so there is a little bit of a gap, which is a little bit concerning.
We don’t want to take a foot off the pedal.’’
To that end, the NZFC is holding a big event in Los Angeles in February and earlier this week announced a deal with Universal Pictures and other companies behind Mortal Engines to promote our country as a film and education destination
‘‘We do have to be careful in the next year or two,’’ warned Gibson. ‘‘Our incentives have been very good in attracting international productions, but for them it’s all about consistency.’’
He admitted he did field a few phone calls from Los Angeles after the new government announced they were looking at replacing the current ‘‘Hobbit Law’’ which legislated film industry workers’ rights. ‘‘However, it was great to be able to tell them that the discussions around that had gone to an industry working group,’’ says Gibson. ‘‘I think that was a smart move.’’
Following Pete’s Dragon and A Wrinkle in Time, Mulan will be the third big budget Disney family movie to have been shot here in the past four years.
Describing the relationship between the NZFC and the Mouse House as ‘‘very good’’, he said the moment they heard Kiwi talent Niki Caro was attached as director they wanted to see what might be possible.
‘‘Also Barry Osborne, the executive producer, has been a great friend to New Zealand. Some of those people, rainmakers like Barry, Rob Tapert and Peter Jackson, are really critical because they bring in hundreds of millions of dollars through their connections.’’
Scheduled for release in 2019, Mulan is a live-action remake of Disney’s 1998 animated adventure. Reports have suggested filming will also take place in China and Australia, although The Walt Disney Company Australia have yet to respond to requests for confirmation or further detail.
Meanwhile, Wellington’s Weta Digital say they have a full slate of projects keeping them busy throughout 2018.
Weta Digital’s senior visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri says as well as continuing work on the Avatar sequels and postproduction on Mortal Engines, they’ve also been a part of a quartet of films due out in the next year – The Maze Runner: The Death Cure, Alita: Battle Angel, Rampage and Avengers: Infinity Wars.