Written by on Aug 14, 2014. Posted in On Location

Michael Fassbender to film The Light Between Oceans in New Zealand and Australia

Irish actor Michael Fassbender will join Rachel Weisz to film drama The Light Between Oceans on location in New Zealand and Australia. Set on a remote Australian island in the years following World War I, the story follows a couple who discover an infant on a boat washed ashore.

Filming will take place mostly in the Marlborough and Otago region of New Zealand’s South Island, with a few days also scheduled for Tasmania in Australia.

“Our thanks to Film New Zealand for their assistance in helping us bring The Light Between Oceans, to their country,” said Holly Bario, President of Production at DreamWorks Studios. “It was important to find the perfect locations to help fulfill our director’s vision for the film and we couldn’t be more excited to be filming in both New Zealand and Australia.”

Added Film New Zealand head Gisella Carr: “The production coming here is the result of successful collaboration between a range of agencies including Marlborough District Council, Film Otago Southland and Film New Zealand working together with the producers.”

Michael Fassbender is returning to New Zealand after his late-2013 shoot for drama Slow West (pictured above), which doubled the country’s Canterbury region for 19th Century Colorado.

New Zealand recently boosted its filming incentive programme for international productions to a base grant figure of 20%, with 25% available for big-budget productions. The move helped secure James Cameron’s upcoming Avatar sequels, which will spend at least NZD500 million locally.

In June, Film New Zealand, NZ On Air and the New Zealand Film Commission joined forces to create new entity Screen NZ, which will focus on attracting big-budget international shoots through joint marketing and research initiatives.

(Photo: See-Saw Films)