Krampus starts shooting in NZ

LEGENDARY PICTURES BEGINS PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY ON HORROR-COMEDY KRAMPUS

Film Shooting in New Zealand Includes Stellar Ensemble Cast

New Zealand, March 13, 2015 – Principal photography is set to begin on Legendary Pictures’ KRAMPUS, a horror-comedy feature film that reveals an irreverently twisted side to the Christmas holiday. This darkly festive tale of a yuletide ghoul is co-written and directed by Michael Dougherty and stars a stellar ensemble cast, who are supported by the Oscar®-winning creature-effects wizardry of Weta Workshop and the Oscar®-winning visual effects of Weta Digital. KRAMPUS will be released on December 10th, 2015 in New Zealand by Paramount Pictures NZ.

A humorously creepy alternative to the traditional holiday classic, KRAMPUS features a stellar cast that includes Adam Scott (“Parks and Recreation,” THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY),  Academy Award® nominee Toni Collette (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, THE SIXTH SENSE), Golden Globe nominee Allison Tolman (“Fargo”), David Koechner (ANCHORMAN series), Emmy nominee Conchata Ferrell (“Two and a Half Men”), Emjay Anthony (CHEF), Stefania Owen (THE LOVELY BONES) and Krista Stadler (LENA RAIS).

KRAMPUS tells the story of young Max, who turns his back on Christmas as his dysfunctional family comes together and comically clashes over the holidays. When they accidentally unleash the wrath of Krampus—an ancient entity from European folklore—all hell breaks loose and beloved holiday icons take on a monstrous life of their own. Now, the fractured family is forced to unite if they hope to survive.

Krampus and his mischievous underlings are being created by the combined efforts of Weta Workshop and Weta Digital, both renowned for their epic work on THE LORD OF THE RINGS and THE HOBBIT trilogies and KING KONG, among many others. 

Weta Workshop is responsible for manufacture and puppeteering for the creatures and specialty costumes for the film. Weta Workshop co-founder and creative director Richard Taylor is very excited about the project. He said: “KRAMPUS is the kind of ‘once-in-a-blue-moon’ project that the creative teams at Weta Workshop relish and that, on a personal level, makes my heart beat a little faster. The preproduction phase on this film has been one of the most enjoyable of our career.”

The ancient legend of the iconic Christmas demon Krampus, whose notoriety grows yearly around the world, is brought to the big screen by writer/director Michael Dougherty (writer/director of TRICK ’R TREAT; writer of X-MEN 2, SUPERMAN RETURNS). The film is co-written by Dougherty, Zach Shields and Todd Casey; produced by Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Alex Garcia and Dougherty; and executive produced by Danny Stillman.

Jules O’Loughlin (“Black Sails,” WISH YOU WERE HERE) serves as the film’s director of photography, while Jules Cook (CHAPPIE) is its production designer and Bob Buck (THE HOBBIT trilogy) designs the costumes. John Alexrad (THE IMMIGRANT, CRAZY HEART, SLiTHER) edits, while Douglas Pipes (TRICK ‘R TREAT, MONSTER HOUSE) composes.

About Weta Workshop

Weta Workshop is a multi-award winning conceptual design and physical manufacturing facility servicing the world’s entertainment and creative industries.

Weta Workshop has been providing design and manufacturing services to film, television and the creative industries for more than 20 years with our expertise in design and manufacture of weapons, armour & chainmaille, specialist props, vehicles, specialty costumes, models & miniatures, special makeup & prosthetics, public art & displays.

Weta Workshop is best known for the company’s design and effects work on award-winning film projects, including THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, KING KONG, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, DISTRICT 9, AVATAR, THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN, ELYSIUM, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, GODZILLA, THE HOBBIT trilogy and CHAPPIE. We have won five Oscars®, four BAFTAs and a significant number of other prestigious awards.  For more information, visit www.wetaworkshop.com.

About Weta Digital

Weta Digital is a world leading visual effects company based in Wellington, New Zealand. We provide a full suite of digital production services for feature films and high end commercials, from concept design to cutting edge 3D animation.

Weta was formed in 1993 by a group of young New Zealand filmmakers including Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor and Jamie Selkirk. It later split into two specialised halves—Weta Digital (digital effects) and Weta Workshop (physical effects).

One of our first projects was to provide visual effects for Peter Jackson’s film HEAVENLY CREATURES. We went on to work digital magic on Peter’s blockbuster movies THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy AND KING KONG.

We also work with other Hollywood directors, providing digital effects for box-office hits like I, ROBOT, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND, ERAGON, BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA, FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER, THE WATER HORSE, JUMPER, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, DISTRICT 9 and THE LOVELY BONES.

Most recently Weta Digital won an Academy Award® for Best Visual Effects on James Cameron’s AVATAR. Our work on the film involved using a new camera system and shooting on a virtual stage. New technologies were developed for supporting software and a new production pipeline in order to reach a new level of creative and technological excellence, delivering the film in 3D.