King Kong director Peter Jackson is recreating 1930s downtown New York, complete with Broadway and Times Square - in Lower Hutt.
Building of the replica is nearing completion on vacant land in Seaview for important scenes in King Kong. Large numbers of extras dressed as 1930s New Yorkers, and many vehicles from the era, will be filmed on the set next month and in February.
"A lot of people are thinking that New York in New Zealand is kind of a crazy notion. 'Why don't we go to New York City and shoot it for real?'," Jackson said on an Internet website.
"But of course the reality is that shooting in modern day New York as 1933 is almost impossible. The city is hard to shoot in at the best of times."
Streets under construction on the set include subway entrances and Macy's department store.
A three-dimensional computer model of every street and building in 1930s Manhattan haS been created to allow Jackson to film any part of the city he wishesd - without leaving his Wellington studio.
- NZPA
New York takes shape in Lower Hutt
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