A Minecraft Movie

Director Jared Hess found an ideal creative partner in New Zealand’s locations and crews, describing the shoot as “one of the best production experiences of my whole life.”

Across the Waikato and Auckland regions, the production transformed recognisably Kiwi environments into a fictional version of small‑town America, serving as key story settings. Huntly’s streets and power station doubled as the town of Chuglass, Idaho and a distinctive potato chip factory, while Helensville provided the backdrop for Garrett’s retro “Game Over” arcade and mobile petting zoo.

The adaptability of these locations, combined with efficient access, experienced location teams and strong local collaboration, allowed the production to move seamlessly between grounded live‑action settings and the heightened world of Minecraft.

New Zealand’s creative departments didn’t just adapt Minecraft for the screen; they made it real.

With more than 85% of the crew based locally, the production relied on New Zealand’s depth of design and build expertise to translate one of the world’s most recognisable digital worlds into a fully realised live‑action environment. The challenge was clear: honour Minecraft’s strict cubic visual language while creating sets, props and costumes capable of withstanding cinematic scale and close‑up performance.

Academy Award‑winning production designer Grant Major led the transformation. “It was very important for us to obey the rules of Minecraft,” he says. “At the same time, the story has real people in it, so there’s a physical world and digital world crossover that I had to navigate.”

Working closely with Mojang Studios, Major and his New Zealand‑based team developed a tactile visual language built from recognisable block forms, grounded in real materials and textures. Sets were designed for physical interaction, allowing performers to inhabit the world while preserving the graphic clarity fans expect.

That vision was delivered in collaboration with set decorator Amber Richards and prop master Matt Cornelius, whose teams built iconic Minecraft elements including Steve’s stash room, cubic apples, tools and textured dirt blocks. Each piece balanced precision geometry with surface detail and wear. “The achievement wasn’t just making things square,” Major notes. “It was making a world that feels built, lived‑in and cinematic, while staying absolutely true to the Minecraft aesthetic.”

The work earned praise from Mojang and visiting Minecraft influencers, demonstrating New Zealand’s ability to translate complex, rules‑based IP into physical environments at scale.

Costume design reinforced that approach. New Zealand‑based costume designer Amanda Neale drew inspiration from native flora and forest textures. “I was obsessed with the fauna, the trees, the flowers and particularly the mushrooms,” she says—organic references that softened the Overworld’s geometry while maintaining its iconic block‑based forms.

Together, New Zealand’s design teams delivered a cohesive physical world that bridged digital and live‑action storytelling, showcasing the country’s capability to build iconic, technically demanding screen worlds from the ground up.