Filming begins on Netflix romance, The Royal Treatment, in Dunedin

American actress and singer Laura Marano (third from right) takes a break between takes on the film set in Vogel St, Dunedin, yesterday. Photo / Gregor Richardson

Movie stars, lighting equipment and smoke machines seemed somewhat out of place on Dunedin's otherwise quiet downtown streets yesterday.

Film crew members spread across Vogel St in the morning and later across Princes St; a white limousine, fit for a princess, was parked outside the historic and newly renovated Wains Hotel; and a taxi that did not a resemble any Dunedin taxis was parked behind it.

The streets were being transformed into the set of a new Netflix romance, The Royal Treatment.

The film stars Egyptian-born Canadian actor Mena Massoud, who achieved worldwide fame in Disney's Aladdin in 2019, and American actress and singer Laura Marano (Austin & Ally, The Perfect Date), who was seen on set yesterday.

A smoke machine is activated on the film set in Vogel St. Photo / Gregor Richardson

Wains Hotel, with its distinctly Victorian facade, appeared to be where most of the action was happening in the evening.

Film crew were packing up cameras and other equipment, about 6pm, and some were seen going in and out of the hotel building.

Earlier, Water St had been filled with plastic chairs and tables, turning it into an outdoor cafeteria for the film crew.

A member of traffic management said curious passers-by had been stopping to see what was happening, but even he had not been told what movie he was closing the roads for.