Queenstown ready for Jackman film

New Zealand-based fans of Hugh Jackman can enjoy their first close-up with the hunky Australian star next week as filming of his new Hollywood blockbuster starts in and around Queenstown.

Rumoured to have a budget in excess of $100 million, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is in pre-production at Sydney's Fox Studios.

It is the fourth movie in the popular X-Men series.

It was believed filming would start in the Southern Lakes area on January 18 and finish in the middle of March.

A traffic management plan for the project puts the finish date at March 15.

However, an industry insider said shooting would start on January 22.

Meanwhile, the region will host several action scenes.

Location manager Jared Connon had revealed that the shell of a military-style Iroquois helicopter would be used in a crash scene near Glenorchy.

"It will be a special-effects rig where a helicopter shell will be suspended in the air by two construction cranes parked alongside the Glenorchy Paradise Road.

"The helicopter will swing from a cable off the boom arm of one of the cranes and then be released to then land on the ground alongside the roadway."

That scene was expected to be shot near the end of this month.

Other scenes would be filmed in Skippers Canyon, not far from the Coronet Peak access road, and in Deer Park Heights.

Documents from WOZ Productions, the film's New Zealand production company, reveal a rigorous schedule.

Filming will be between 5am and 11pm every day.

Much of the filming will be near Glenorchy.

It is expected the Glenorchy area will host crews on 15 to 20 days.

This will be over a six- to seven-week period.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council's regulatory arm, Lakes Environmental, has issued consent for the filming subject to conditions.

These include the payment of a $50,000 bond on work such as buildings and structures being removed from locations.

In addition, sites must be returned to their original condition.

- © Fairfax NZ News