A Minecraft Movie in our mining town: Blockbuster film’s scenes shot in ‘Huntlywood’

Thursday, 3 April 2025

Director Jared Hess and Danielle Brooks (Dawn) check a scene on the Huntly set of A Minecraft Movie.

It’s mostly set in a bizarre cubic wonderland, but there’s a little bit of Huntly in the latest big budget blockbuster hitting cinema screens this week.

A Minecraft Movie stars Hollywood A-listers Jack Black, Jason Momoa and Emma Myers and is based on the massively popular video game created in 2011.

But Huntly could be said to be a star as well - and locals are bracing for the town to get a lot more attention, given the film is tipped to do well at the international box office.

Rosser St in Huntly was selected by the Minecraft Movie-makers due to its similarity to many industrial towns in the USA.

Although much of the movie was shot in studios in Auckland in front of “green screen” technology that transports the actors into a colourful digital environment, there are some scenes that were set in an ordinary neighbourhood in the USA - but are very recognisably the north Waikato’s mining town.

It was in late March last year that a 250-strong film crew came and established a “base camp” out by the Huntly Speedway and set up for a three-day shoot in the town.

Jason Momoa and Jack Black make for a powerful star pairing in A Minecraft Movie.

The movie-makers did most of their filming in Rosser St - which had been selected because it could easily pass for an ordinary industrial town in middle America - and other scenes were shot in Kimihia Rd and Great South Rd.

It is estimated the three day shoot injected about $1 million into the Huntly and Hamilton economies, with the crew staying and buying supplies in the city.

Waikato District Council councillor David Whyte attended a special preview screening on Tuesday night, and was delighted by what he saw on the big screen.

Emma Myers had a good time with llamas - an oft-seen critter in the Minecraft game - during the shoot in Huntly.

“I went in with the expectation that there would be a few ‘blink and you miss it’ shots, but there’s actually quite a lot of action in Rosser St,” he said.

“There’s also a couple of iconic shots of the power station, with the river and the greenery. It’s been slightly digitally altered, but it’s unmistakable.

This mock-up 'Huntlywood' image was used by Waikato Screen staff for a presentation to the Waikato District Council.

“It’s a great kids’ movie, but there’s a lot adults are going to get out of it too. I think a lot of kids are going to want to come and visit and check it out for themselves after they see it on the big screen.

This promotional image for the Minecraft game and movie is set in the Waitomo Caves.

As is usual when major productions are shot around New Zealand, much of the filming was done in complete secrecy and few knew of the stars, including Myers - famous for her role in the Wednesday comedy-horror series - and Black, who were in the town.

Mysteriously, one of the Huntly scenes is said to have featured a llama in a car, along with geese on the roof of that car.

Myers posted pictures of herself cavorting with llamas - which are oft-seen creatures in the game - on her social media channels.

The Huntly portion of the shoot was facilitated by the team at Screen Waikato, the Hamilton-based regional film office.

“Rosser St would have been selected because it has a classic American look to it - although it absolutely screams Huntly to us,” Waikato Screen co-director Tracy Hampton said.

Screen Waikato had also conjured a special “Huntlywood” image for a presentation to the Waikato District Council.

Residents and business owners in Huntly were given a forewarning of the shoot by “End City Productions” - including an apology for any inconvenience caused by road closures and the extra traffic management that would be required.

People who were excessively impacted were given gift cards to thank them for their co-operation - but few at the time would have been aware that the filming was for A Minecraft Movie.

Huntly is not the only part of this part of the country featuring in Minecraft promotions. As part of a joint initiative between Tourism New Zealand, Warner Bros and Mojang Studios - the creators of the game - the Waitomo Caves feature in a new downloadable interactive map.

The “geomapped” caves are also likely to attract a lot of eyeballs, given that 204 million players around the world log in to play Minecraft every month.

Other parts of the country featuring in the interactive experience include Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley in Rotorua, Lake Tekapo, Doubtful Sound, and the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

The Waitomo area is also understood to have been the venue of another even larger production in July last year, involving a 350-strong crew filming near the caves over a few days - however those involved are as yet revealing little about it.