A Cruise in Queenstown

By Tracey Roxburgh

Mission: Impossible — Fallout actors Henry Cavill (back helicopter) and Tom Cruise are filmed in a helicopter chase through the Skippers Canyon in Queenstown last year. Photo: David James

When those behind a Hollywood blockbuster decide to use your backyard as a film set, the spin-offs are huge. Last year hundreds of people involved in Mission: Impossible - Fallout descended on Queenstown. Tracey Roxburgh looks at what the sixth instalment of Mission: Impossible involved, and what it means down the track.

The opening credits are yet to roll, but already Mission: Impossible — Fallout has injected millions of dollars into the Queenstown economy — and the ongoing benefits are untold.

Making the 'Impossible' stunts possible

It was June last year when stars including Tom Cruise and Henry Cavill arrived in the resort for a month-long stay filming scenes for the sixth movie in the Mission Impossible franchise.

But, Film Otago Southland executive manager Kevin Jennings said work on the ground in Queenstown started about six months prior.

After initial scouting, pre-production and construction began about three months before filming. Work was largely focused on building a large mobile medical camp set and a section of the Kashmiri village at Rees Valley, near Glenorchy.

Full pre-production crew were on the ground in the resort about eight weeks out before the "main unit" rolled into town about a month later, largely testing helicopters.

"This is quite unique in that there was the helicopter team and the ground crew," Mr Jennings said.

Henry Cavill in action during a helicopter chase sequence filmed in Queenstown last year as part of Mission: Impossible — Fallout. Photos: Paramount Pictures

"You would traditionally have a production that shoots a place, a set, so there was that, and that was massive, but then there were all the aerials, which was its own thing."

Once production started, yet more people descended — at its peak Mr Jennings estimated close to 600 people were directly involved in the filming in Queenstown alone.

"While that was happening, there were some people working over on the Duffers Saddle site."

Once shooting wrapped, crew remained in the resort to break down the sets and reinstate the areas, he said.

"All in all, it’s near on a year from when they first look to when it’s all sorted."

During that period, the economic benefits to Queenstown were huge, he said.

While official figures were yet to be determined, Mr Jennings estimated during filming, Fallout would have injected "the north side of 10 million" dollars into the resort.

It provided employment to a large number of residents who worked on aspects of the film and also benefitted businesses across the Wakatipu.

One example was a Frankton tyre shop which had been "slammed" because the movie used vehicles which needed a specific type of rim — and the shop was providing them, he said.

Tom Cruise flies a helicopter in Queenstown during filming last year.

Crew stayed at Hotel St Moritz while hardware stores, like Placemakers, provided the building materials for the "substantial" sets.

The resort’s hospitality industry also reaped major benefits, Mr Jennings said.

"I went into one [bar] and one of the guys was like ‘It’s like LA in here’.

"International crew are earning good wages and staying in hotels, so they go out most nights, so there was great feedback from bars and restaurants around town.

"It was just pumping and it was just that pre-winter time when we probably needed it."

But the benefits went far beyond the direct economic impact.

The cast have been on the promotional circuit for some time now and New Zealand has been a regular topic of conversation, which equated to marketing for the country and the Wakatipu worth mega money.

Mr Jennings said during shooting for A Wrinkle in Time, starring Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling, a study estimated the value of the stars’ Instagram posts and tweets at $80 million.

Perhaps most critically, however, was the message the movie sent to others in the industry about the Queenstown Lakes area.

Actor Tom Cruise, as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible — Fallout, dangles from a bag, attached to a long line and helicopter near Queenstown during filming.

"It reinforces our capability on a world stage.

"It doesn’t really get much bigger than the Mission: Impossible franchise, so any of these franchises now can see that we can deliver the goods.

"It really all started with The Lord of the Rings, that proved to the world that we could do it, but ones of this scale, they are massive globally; it’ll put us definitely square on the map."

Tom Cruise in action during a stunt sequence.

One of the "great" things about a movie of MI6’s scale was the way it supported the New Zealand film industry to make "smaller cultural films that we want that tell our story".

"It supports investment in infrastructure and gear and it fills people’s bank accounts so they’re in a position to work on some of the other smaller-scale projects that don’t have the budget.

"It’s a very cool symbiotic relationship between the two and without ... having those big Mission: Impossibles, our domestic industry would really suffer."

Mr Jennings said he was already fielding "other active inquiries" from productions looking at the area as a location.

"There aren’t many of this [MI6] size; this is big.

"That said ... there are some ... similar in the potential positive impact they could have.

"There are a couple that are currently sniffing and we’re hoping for."

tracey.roxburgh@odt.co.nz