The Lord of the Rings

'I feel incredibly proud that this country, and especially this town, is responsible for what we have done.' (Peter Jackson, Source: The Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook, by Ian Brodie).

Wellington was the production base for The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. The third and final film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King, scooped the pool at the 2004 Academy Awards®, winning 11 Oscars®.

For the first time in history three major movies were made simultaneously, and Wellington played a starring role in each of them.

Production and post-production was based in Miramar, Wellington, where the world class facilities Stone Street Studios, Weta Workshop, Weta Digital and Park Road Post are based. 

"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" © MMIII, New Line Productions, Inc. TM The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises under license to New Line Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Photo by Pierre Vinet. Photo appears courtesy of New Line Productions, Inc.

While these facilities enabled many studio scenes – for example Edoras, Helm's Deep, and Fangorn Forest – the diversity of land around Wellington allowed many others to be shot on location but within close proximity of Miramar.

Wellington’s landmark Mount Victoria, a few minutes from the CBD, hosted key scenes including the hobbits hiding from the Nazgûl shortly after leaving Hobbiton, and then racing to catch the ferry to Bree with a Black Rider in hot pursuit. Close up shots for the Dunharrow (Rohirrim camp) scenes made use of Mount Victoria’s disused quarry. Nearby, on Wellington’s south coast, a cliff face in Lyall Bay was also used for Dunharrow and further along the coast at Red Rocks is where Frodo, Sam and Gollum reached the Black Gate.

Miramar Peninsula served as the outskirts of Bree, and the Prancing Pony and village of Bree were built around army barracks at Fort Dorset, in Seatoun. Other spectacular sets built around the region included Helms Deep at Dry Creek Quarry just north of Wellington city and Rivendell at Kaitoke Regional Park. 

All these venues have excellent road access and are within an easy 30 minute drive of each other.

Film Wellington was involved from the beginning of this marathon production – well before shooting started and locations were needed – right through to the end. We worked on the, at times unglamorous but essential, operations involving infrastructure and facilities that smooth the process for filming. We worked with our contacts within the local community and public bodies to solve problems such as ensuring there was an adequate amount of water available at the studio site, helping to create new car parks to minimise the impact on nearby residents.

Wellington’s historic Embassy Theatre (originally built in 1926) was restored to host the Australasian premieres of The Lord of the Rings films - The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. Then in 2003 it hosted the world premiere and final film of the trilogy, The Return of the King.