PRESS RELEASE:
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND: Principal photography has begun on The Dead Lands in locations around Auckland and the central North Island of New Zealand.
The Dead Lands stars James Rolleston, now aged 16 and last seen as the 11-year-old star of the NZ box office hit Boy (2010) and Lawrence Makoare (Die Another Day, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King). It also stars Te Kohe Tuhaka (Sione’s 2: Unfinished Business), Xavier Horan (Dean Spanley), George Henare (Once Were Warriors) and Rena Owen (Once Were Warriors). Former Kiwis and Auckland Warriors rugby league star Wairangi Koopu makes his acting debut.
Toa Fraser (Giselle, Dean Spanley, No.2) directs from a script by Glenn Standring (Perfect Creature, The Irrefutable Truth about Demons).
In the film, Hongi (Rolleston) – a Maori chieftain’s teenage son – must avenge his father's murder in order to bring peace and honour to the souls of his loved ones after his tribe is slaughtered through an act of treachery. Vastly outnumbered by the band of villains, Hongi’s only hope is to pass through the feared and forbidden Dead Lands and forge an uneasy alliance with the mysterious "Warrior," (Makoare) a ruthless fighter who has ruled the area for years.
The action epic film will feature the Maori martial art of Mau Rakau, a unique hand-to-hand fighting style not seen on international cinema screens before.
The Dead Lands is a NZ-UK official co-production funded by the New Zealand Film Commission, New Zealand Film Production Fund Trust, the Maori screen funding body Te Mangai Paho, Images and Sound, the UK’s Day Tripper Films (backed by Ingenious Media) and Lip Sync Productions. It is produced by Matthew Metcalfe (Dean Spanley, Beyond The Edge) through his company General Film Corporation in association with Day Tripper Films. Lip Sync’s Norman Merry and New Zealand producer Tainui Stephens (River Queen) take on co-producer duties. Standring is also a producer on the film. Peter Hampden from Lip Sync takes on executive producer duties. International sales are handled by XYZ Films, with Australasian distribution by Transmission Films. The New Zealand broadcaster is Maori Television Service.
Other members of the creative team are: director of photography Leon Narbey (Whale Rider, The Orator, Dean Spanley), Academy Award-winning production designer Grant Major (Lord of the Rings, Mr Pip, King Kong), costume designer Barbara Darragh (Spartacus, River Queen, Bridge to Terabithia), make-up designer Davina Lamont (Lord of the Rings, Diana, Mr Pip), supervising stunt co-ordinator Steve McQuillan (Lord of the Rings, Spartacus, Warrior’s Way), editor Dan Kircher (Giselle, Everything We Loved), Te Reo Maori expert and translator Scotty Morrison, and Mau Rakau (Maori martial arts) expert Jamus Webster (co-director Maori Troilus & Cressida, NZ International Arts Festival and Globe to Globe Festival at Shakespeare’s Globe in London).