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Tag >> Hollywood Reporter
Punk Goes Down Under in Comedy Head South
Punk arrives in New Zealand, a little bit late, in Head South, the new dramedy from New Zealand director Jonathan Ogilvie (Lone Wolf, The Tender Hook) which opened this…
Taika Waititi on the Cover of Hollywood Reporter
With sly and subversive humour, multihyphenate powerhouse Taika Waititi is redefining representation – “Comedy is a great way of pulling people in and going, ‘Hey, we’re all friends. Get…
THR Puts Two Campion Films on Best of Century List
“Over the course of a few months, several Zoom meetings, and countless emails, six Hollywood Reporter (THR) film critics came together to hash out, and rank, what they consider…
Thomasin McKenzie Burns Up the Screen in Eileen
“What a strange and spellbinding psychological thriller has woven out of Ottessa Moshfegh’s novel, Eileen,” Hollywood Reporter reviewer David Rooney writes. “Rippling with sly humour and a…
Lindsay Lohan in Allbirds Running Shoe Campaign
American actress and entrepreneur Lindsay Lohan is fronting Allbirds new running shoe campaign celebrating the New Zealand-American sustainable brand’s eco-friendly bright pink sneakers.
Lohan stars in the company’s new campaign…
Ghosts Rose McIver Stands Out in Ensemble Comedy
Rose McIver, the 33-year-old New Zealand native who began acting as a child, recently spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about her interest in finding the emotional relatability in flamboyant…
New Doco Explores Jane Campion’s Filmography
Drawing upon interviews from throughout the New Zealander’s career, Julie Bertuccelli’s documentary Jane Campion: The Cinema Woman, which premiered at Cannes, explores the process and philosophy of the Power…
Peter Jackson to Receive Visual Effects Accolade
New Zealand film director Sir Peter Jackson will receive the Visual Effects Society Lifetime Achievement Award at the 19th annual VES Awards, which will be presented during a virtual…
Whina an Exacting Assignment for Rena Owen
None of veteran New Zealand actor Rena Owen’s tough previous roles prepared her for the demands – both physical and emotional – of playing Māori matriarch and political activist…
There’s Extreme Tension Coming Home in the Dark
“The enormity of nature hits you like a freight train in the early scenes of James Ashcroft’s taut and sinewy first feature, Coming Home in the Dark,”…
US TV Host Stephen Colbert Revisits 2019 NZ Trip
Stephen Colbert, host of US television’s The Late Show, has shared footage from his 2019 travels to New Zealand on a recent episode, including a Lord of the Rings-themed adventure…
Bill Gosden Lived and Breathed Film
Bill Gosden, who served as director of the New Zealand International Film Festival for nearly 40 years, has died in Wellington. He was 66. Mike Barnes looks back on…
Screenwriter Anthony McCarten Talks Two Popes
For the Oscar-nominated film The Two Popes, New Zealand-born screenwriter Anthony McCarten had to imagine what took place between Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Jorge Bergolio in the weeks…
New Zealand Filmmakers Showcase Local Perspectives
Years of big-budget location shoots have given rise to a thriving New Zealand film and television sector. Hollywood Reporter correspondent Patrick Brzeski examines how a “happy confluence of preparation…
Taika Waititi Takes on a Decidedly Risky Role
After years of trying to get the film off the ground, New Zealander Taika Waititi, director of Thor: Ragnarok, finally convinced Fox Searchlight to roll the dice on a…
Power Inclusion Summit Attracts More Big Film Names
Award-winning writer-director Jackie van Beek joins fellow New Zealanders Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Mulan director Niki Caro at the two-day Power of Inclusion Summit in Auckland on 3-4…
Taika Waititi Gives Vampire Film New Life
In-demand director Taika Waititi reveals to The Hollywood Reporter what it took for him and fellow New Zealander, Jemaine Clement to develop a TV show based on their 2014…
Big Names to Speak at Film Summit in Auckland
New Zealand filmmakers Niki Caro, Philippa Boyens, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and US film producer Charles King will headline global screen inclusion summit, Power of Inclusion, which will take…
What We Do in the Shadows on TV and Note-Perfect
Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s TV reboot of their vampiric comedy, What We Do in the Shadows is “wonderfully, absurdly over-the-top and hilarious”, according to Hollywood Reporter reviewer Tim…
Merata Mita Doco Reviewed by The Hollywood Reporter
The legacy and personal life of the late New Zealand filmmaker Merata Mita are brought to life in the documentary Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen. The film, which…
Thomasin McKenzie Reflects on Breakout Year
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, 18-year-old Wellingtonian Thomasin McKenzie reflects on her breakout year (after Debra Granik’s latest film Leave No Trace premiered at Sundance, she shot…
Hollywood Movies Are Keeping NZ Busier Than Ever
“Hollywood films have shot intermittently in New Zealand for decades, taking advantage of the country’s seasoned film workers, world-famous landscapes and opposite seasons. But Kiwi production veterans say they’ve…
Thomasin McKenzie One of Hollywood’s Rising Young Stars
New Zealand actress Thomasin McKenzie, 18, has been featured on The Hollywood Reporter’s list of “Hollywood’s Rising Young Stars”. Bryn Elise Sandberg reports.
“McKenzie’s grandmother, parents…
Production Wraps on Sam Kelly’s Savage
Wellingtonian Sam Kelly’s directorial debut Savage has now wrapped up production. The drama is inspired by the true stories of New Zealand’s street gangs and their founding members.
Savage stars Australian…
Meet the Feebles Inspires Happytime Murders Writer
Danny Mulheron, Meet the Feebles writer, and American scriptwriter Todd Berger – for the R-rated puppet comedy, The Happytime Murders – recount almost 30 years of bad taste for…
Who is Dark Tourist Host David Farrier?
If you can’t get enough of quirky documentaries on Netflix then you might want to check out Dark Tourist, hosted by New Zealander David Farrier, suggests Caroline Westbrook writing…
London’s Calling in First Trailer for Peter Jackson’s Mortal Engines
The first full trailer for Peter Jackson-produced Mortal Engines has been released, reports Abid Rahman for The Hollywood Reporter. In the…
Andrew Niccol’s Latest Film Smart and Stylish
Clive Owen and Amanda Seyfried star in Anon, a “timely Netflix-bound cyberthriller from The Truman Show and In Time creator New Zealander Andrew Niccol”. Stephen Dalton reviews the film…
True Blood Lead Anna Paquin Stars as PR Maven
New Zealand-raised Anna Paquin is returning to television. The True Blood and Alias Grace star is set to appear in the upcoming dramedy Flack. The limited series, which is…
Vampires Get Their Teeth into Some Small Screen
A television reboot based on Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s 2014 smash hit mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows has landed a pilot-production order at American channel FX.
According…
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie’s New Role Enigmatic
Among the most anticipated films of this year’s Sundance Film Festival has been Winter’s Bone director Debra Granik’s Leave No Trace, starring 17-year-old New Zealander Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie.
Leave No…
Hollywood Directors Like Niki Caro a Force
Never in the history of Hollywood has more than one female filmmaker been at the helm of a feature with a budget of USD$100 million or more – until…
NZ’s Film Industry Worth a Billion to Economy
The International New Zealand Screen Production Grant (NZSPG) is a key contributor to the nation’s economy according to a new economic study released by the New Zealand Film Commission…
Grey’s Anatomy Star Martin Henderson Exits Series
Another doctor has left the building on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. New Zealander Martin Henderson was written out of the drama, following a two-season-plus run as a series regular.
Auckland-born Henderson,…
Thor: Ragnarok Marvel’s Best Film to Date
Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok has an “oddly beautiful scuffed-plastic aesthetic”; it’s “funny, charming, dazzling, gorgeously designed, and full of actors you already like,” with Waititi managing “to finally imbue…
Taika Waititi Best Dressed Director in Hollywood
Taika Waititi is a fashion superhero, according to Degen Pener writing for The Hollywood Reporter. The proof: When the New Zealand native and director of November’s Thor: Ragnarok showed…
Top of the Lake Season Two More Accessible
Critics loved Top of the Lake, New Zealander Jane Campion’s dark crime drama, starring Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss as Robin Griffin, the police detective tasked…
It’s Time to Rethink Peter Jackson’s King Kong
“History has been too unkind to which should be remembered not as lumbering and mindless, but as majestic and mesmerising,” according to…
The Inland Road Makes for a Satisfying Debut
“In the stunned aftermath of a fatal road accident, a directionless 16-year-old half-Maori runaway drifts with unpredictable consequences into the lives of strangers in New Zealander Jackie van Beek’s…
Disney Coup for Director Niki Caro
The new live-action Mulan remake has secured Whale Rider director Niki Caro to helm.
According to online women’s magazine, Bustle, “The Hollywood Reporter issued the reminder that …
One Thousand Ropes Premieres in Berlin
“Childbirth becomes a powerful vessel for renewal in this deeply felt drama about a Samoan former fighter atoning for the violence that divided his family and exiled him to…
Hollywood’s Auckland
Auckland has been featured in The Hollywood Reporter’s Hollywood destinations travel guide. In the article, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Rhys Darby, Karen Walker, Oprah, Lorde and Matt Lambert share…
NZ Selects ‘A Flickering Truth’ for Foreign-Language Category
New Zealand has selected Afghanistan-set documentary A Flickering Truth, which was produced and directed by Pietra Bretkelly, for the best foreign-language film category for the 2017 Academy Awards, as…
Anna Paquin to Star in Margaret Atwood Adaptation
True Blood and Roots star New Zealander Anna Paquin has been tapped to topline an adaptation of Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s novel Alias Grace, the Hollywood Reporter reports.
Published in…
Anna Paquin Returns to the South in Roots
Forty years after the original Roots gripped half the United States, a more violent and more accurate remake is here, the Hollywood Reporter’s Marissa Guthrie writes, gambling on big…
Taika Waititi Proves to Be Box-Office Gold in NZ
“Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi rules the box office in his homeland of New Zealand,” writes Pip Bulbeck for The Hollywood Reporter.
Two of his films are now the…
KJ Apa Lands Archie Andrews Role in US
Eighteen-year-old New Zealand-born KJ Apa, best known for his Shortland Street role as Kane Jenkins, has been cast as Archie Andrews in US television network series Riverdale.
According to the…
Tammy Davis’ Hit a Berlinale Favourite
Tammy Davis’ hip-hop drama Born to Dance, a “hidden gem” at this year’s Berlinale, has become the most unlikely of box-office hits Down Under.
Born to Dance brought in more…
David Farrier’s Doco Tickled a Hit with Critics
New investigative documentary, the “engrossing” Tickled, co-directed by New Zealanders David Farrier and Dylan Reeve, has received rave reviews from critics and punters after its premiere at this year’s Sundance…
Hunt for the Wilderpeople is Perfectly Balanced
Taika Waititi’s film adaptation of Barry Crump’s Wild Pork and Watercress, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, which made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, is a “deliciously good time…
Obviously Deathgasm Is a Family Film
“Making his feature directing debut after several years on the FX teams of such films as The Avengers and The Hobbit, New Zealander Jason Lei Howden delivers a pic…
New Line Cinema to Remake New Zealand Horror-Comedy ‘Housebound’
New Line Cinema has picked up the remake rights of New Zealand horror-comedy Housebound, which earned praise from Lord of the Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson.
Gerard Johnstone, who wrote and directed the movie,…
Sundance Comedy Immeasurably Funnier with Jemaine Clement
Jemaine Clement plays the lead role in indie romantic comedy People, Places, Things as penny-pinched New York graphic novelist Will Henry who is struggling upstream with life and the…
Esteemed Middle-earth Location Scout Dave Comer
Dave Comer, who selected many of the spectacular New Zealand locations for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies for director Peter Jackson, has died aged 58.
Comer…
Lucy Lawless Plays Evil Queen in Californian Pantomime
Actress Lucy Lawless is currently portraying the evil queen Carabosse in a California-based production of Sleeping Beauty and Her Winter Knight.
Through 4 January, at the Pasadena Playhouse, Lawless plays…
Portrayal of Genesis Earns Cliff Curtis Best Actor Accolades
Cliff Curtis has won best actor at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards for his portrayal of Genesis Potini in The Dark Horse, ahead of veteran Australian actor David…
