Standing on the shores of Lake Pukaki with Mount Cook in the background, the last thing you'd expect to hear is Oprah Winfrey's voice over a megaphone, yelling something about a "tuna-fish sandwich!"
But she's here - despite the fact that it's her day off - simply because she wanted to take in the scenery. And this is Pukaki on an off day; it's raining and the wind is almost as relentless as the sandflies. A crew member sighs: "We've had extreme conditions."
But all the big names are here nonetheless.
Oprah, Mindy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon - even acclaimed director Ava Duvernay stops by to shake hands and exclaim: "Look at us Americans all cold with our hand warmers and tissues."
For some reason, this set feels completely different to any other. Maybe it's the Kiwi setting. Maybe it's because the majority of faces on set are brown and female, or because there are so many kids - all of whom have personalities beyond their years.
Maybe it's something to do with the fact that nine-year-old Deric McCabe has just run into the catering tent yelling, "excuse me beautiful people" to organise a birthday surprise for a crew member. Or because 15-year-old Storm Reid is dancing with Ava Duvernay, and Reese Witherspoon looks like a fairy spinning in the field.
It's a cast full of superstars let loose in a place, which Oprah goes so far as to call a "living, breathing homage to all that is God".
While it may have been New Zealand that drew Oprah to the project - "New Zealand is like another world, I feel wholly, sacredly blessed to be able to be here" - it was the story and the women involved which sealed the deal.
A Wrinkle in Time is based on a book of the same name, about a young girl finding her inner strength, learning to love herself and doing something extraordinary as a result.
More so, it's believing in yourself and the power of pursuing your dreams. In a beautifully bizarre case of life imitating art, that's how the film's producer, Catherine Hand got the film made.
At 10 years old, she wrote a letter to Walt Disney to get him to turn Wrinkle - her favourite book - into a movie. Only she never actually sent it, so when Disney died she pledged to make it herself when she grew up.
A full 50 years later, she's here, looking up at Mount Cook saying, "I never gave up the dream".
Storm Reid, Deric McCabe and Reese Witherspoon help bring Catherine Hand's vision to life. Photo / Supplied
"It's just a blessing because all those years, the one thing I kept believing was if I found the right team it would make a fabulous film. And I really do believe [this is] the right team," she says.
"I think there's something guiding this... clearly it's a time where the world seems to be at odds with each other - a wonderful time for a message of hope and courage and love as a way to fight back darkness."
Hand's main motivation was to tell a story in which "a daughter could do something the father couldn't" and "a young girl could save the universe", filled with ideas of differences and tolerance.
To that end, bringing Ava Duvernay on board was a no-brainer. The Selma director is known for her diverse casts and telling the stories of people of colour; the obvious choice to bring the 1962 story to a 2018 audience.
Her first order of business was diversifying the cast, a task which was surprisingly easy.
"I couldn't believe it. When I sat down with Disney... I said, 'well I don't make movies with kids and I really care about people of colour and there aren't any in the book so why are you asking me?' And they said: 'Imagine the world that you can create and imagine the story if you could tell it the way that you wanted,'" says Duvernay.
"I think that's why they called me, because they knew I would do it this way. They've put together this new team over there that's like, 'let's reflect the real world'... they're putting their money where their mouth is - or money where their heart is."
She also brought in Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling to play a trio of magical beings who lead the children in their adventure, known respectively as Mrs Which, Mrs Whatsit and Mrs Who.
Reese Witherspoon and Storm Reid in a Wrinkle in Time. Photo / AP
Winfrey came aboard when she heard her friend Duvernay was shooting in New Zealand and wanted to tag along, so Duvernay figured she may as well try her luck offering Winfrey a role.
"It was New Zealand first, but... who doesn't want to play a supernova born of the stars, who's wise and who's been here for several millennia?" says Winfrey.
"My character is a cross between Maya Angelou, Glinda the Good Witch and myself. Sometimes I'm saying things about intention and the darkness spreading and 'hold on and have faith in yourself' and I feel like, gosh, I've said those words before.
"All those years on the Oprah show and now with my network, my magazine... I did it for 25 years on the show. It's the same message: Believe, believe, believe you can do it, there's a power within you."
It's a message which even applied to one of the cast members - comedic and improv actress Mindy Kaling will be the first to tell you she was an unexpected casting choice.
"It took me a while to understand why [Duvernay] saw me in this role, just because of my reputation - I've never done anything remotely like this."
Duvernay always had her in mind, partly because casting Kaling – who is Indian-American - was an opportunity to expand definitions of diversity beyond black and white, to include more people of colour.
But it was more that Duvernay needed someone who "could add a little sparkle to it - because she only speaks in quotes, you can't just have a straight, dry actress. They need to have a little sparkle and [Kaling] has that."
Casting the kids, however, posed the bigger problem: "I don't feel good with them, I feel awkward with kids, I don't know how to talk to them," says Duvernay.
"Let me tell you this: I'm a 44-year-old woman who told my mother when I was nine, 'I do not want kids'. I just don't want them. My legacy I will leave in the world... will be my films, which are like my children." Duvernay says.
But the kids she did find in the end are special, in that they're almost disarmingly mature. 15-year-old Storm Reid talks about inspiring a generation of girls of colour and Deric McCabe commands a room - according to Duvernay - "like a 27-year-old man going to the club".
The film is also a departure from the norm for Witherspoon, known for roles in romantic comedies and dramas. "I don't get to make a lot of fantasy movies", she says.
It was one of the things that drew her to the film. That, and the chance to work with Duvernay to tell a story she's grown up with.
"I loved the book when I was a little girl and my older kids have read it and it really spoke to them as well. I think it's got a great message for everybody; it's about using the goodness to blot out the darkness and that's a metaphor for - internally, every single one of us has to fight to see the good in everything every day, and I think that as a child it was this amazing sort of escape from whoever you think you are.
"It's just a matter of what you put your mind to that can create a new opportunity or a new world for you."
LOWDOWN: Who: Ava Duvernay, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling What: A Wrinkle in Time When: In cinemas next Thursday
