Huntly has crafted its own starring role in a Hollywood blockbuster.
The Waikato town has stacked up some screen time in the highly anticipated A Minecraft Movie which hits theatres this week.
Based on the best-selling video game of all time, the film — shot in New Zealand — stars Jack Black, Jason Momoa, and a couple of our own in Rachel House and Jemaine Clement.
Most of the movie was shot in front of green screens at an Auckland studio but some scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho, will be unmistakable to Kiwi audiences as the north Waikato town.
Bringing Minecraft to Huntly was the work of the regional film office Waikato Screen, helped by an Auckland-based location scout’s move to the town.
“He saw potential here,” Huntly General Ward councillor David Whyte told 1News.
Filming was short but jam-packed. A 250-strong film crew descended on the town in March last year, shooting for three days on a suburban street, at the Huntly Power Station, on the Waikato River, and then back in town at a local business.
Production required an average American street to film on, and Rosser St in Huntly East fit the bill, Whyte said.
“Apparently American homes don’t have fences around them, and a couple of streets in Huntly have typical Kiwi houses and no fencing.”
The town’s defining landmark — the Huntly Power Station — also shows up in a surprisingly important role, although it had been digitally transformed into a potato chip factory.
Whyte, who attended a preview screening of the film, was pleasantly surprised to see the power station in so many scenes.
“It’s in a number of shots, not just a blink and you miss it, which is what I was expecting.
“For anyone who’s ever passed through Huntly, you can see it’s clearly Huntly.”
Annie Murray from the New Zealand Film Commission speaks to Breakfast about why the country is a go-to destination for film makers. (Source: Breakfast)
He was expecting more people to stop for selfies in front of the power station after the film’s release.
“We had a fairly rundown, derelict house used in a scene of a Netflix show a couple of years ago, and we still semi-regularly see people stop and take photos out front,” he said.
“There’s only one power station in New Zealand that looks like that.”
Waikato Screen attraction and facilitation manager Erin Griffiths said around 10 locals helped out on set during filming, as traffic management, production assistants, and drivers for talent.
“Production were really fantastic at engaging with the community. They tried to use locally too, they bought their milk from the petrol stations, their food from the bakery, they tried to use the businesses when and where possible, which is great for the region.”
Residents and business owners in Huntly were warned of the shoot but few would have been aware that the filming was for A Minecraft Movie.
The number of productions taking place in the region had “picked up tenfold” in the nearly two years that Waikato Screen had been fully funded to accelerate the region’s screen sector.
“Waikato has got such a massive variety of locations, and you can emulate so many places in the world. It’s a treasure trove, and we’re looking forward to doing more work with the Hollywood industry.”
Griffiths said Huntly was “buzzing and excited” with the release of the film.
“There’s this element of pride, going from Huntly being known as a coal town and now it’s Huntly in a Jason Momoa film from Hollywood.”
Whyte hoped Huntly’s brush with the big screen helped to boost the town’s reputation.
“When you mention Huntly, people’s reaction to it is negative.
“It was really wonderful to see the town excited, to be treated with international visitors, with movie stars who were visiting, and that sense of pride of being in a town that was important and mattered.”
