Announced by Variety this afternoon, an authentic New Zealand monster movie titled Taniwha is currently in development, with Libby Hakaraia attached to direct the project.
Described as a “monster thriller,” Variety’s report indicates that the film is “already in the advanced development stage,” and “will boast the participation of Wētā Workshop.”
“The film is set in New Zealand 1,000 years ago, when humans still respected the laws of nature…
“When their peaceful world is completely destroyed by a brutal tribe, Keiha and Waikura, a devoted young couple, are chosen to lead the survivors to safety. Soon, Keiha disregards his wife’s advice and veers away from the agreed destination. As they venture into a strange yet seductive valley, Waikura’s intuition tells her something otherworldly is tracking them.”
“In the world of this film, Aotearoa [Māori name for New Zealand] had the world’s largest birds. The moa, a flightless bird over 2.6 meters tall and the pouakai, an eagle with a wingspan of 3-4 meters. We are talking to Wētā about how we can create these as animatronics, as well as the taniwha itself,” Hakaraia tells the outlet. “Our monster is inspired by the tuatara, the only survivors of an ancient group of reptiles from 200 million years ago. They are only found in New Zealand and are considered sacred by our Māori tribes.”
Ricardo Giraldo wrote the screenplay.
You can learn more about Taniwha over on Variety.
The post ‘Taniwha’ – New Zealand Monster Movie in Development with Weta Workshop Handling the Animatronics appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.