Watch out Wellywood, Auckland is closing in as the country's premiere film production location.



In figures released by Stats NZ on Monday, Auckland's share of New Zealand's annual film production revenue increased to 43 per cent in 2017. Wellington still led the way with 55 per cent as New Zealand's overall film production revenue increased by 15 per cent to $1.1b.



Stats NZ business performance manager Laura O'Leary said Auckland's film production revenue was estimated at $489m last year, an increase of 37 per cent from 2016, while the Capital's revenue was slightly down.

Jason Statham-starrer The Meg, Shailene Woodley thriller Adrift and New Zealand family comedy Kiwi Christmas were among the feature films to shoot in Auckland last year, while Wellington-based production and post-production companies contributed to the making of Ghost in the Shell, Thor: Ragnarok, Blade Runner 2049, Justice League, and War for the Planet of the Apes and Mortal Engines was also shot there.

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JOHN NICHOLSON/STUFF The latest Stats NZ figures show Auckland is closing the gap on Wellington as New Zealand's home of film production.

Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) chief executive Nick Hill said 2017 was the fourth straight year of significant production venue growth.

"With the two new sound stages at Kumeu Film Studios about to be completed and a major international production ready to move in for the rest of the year, and a number of other key television productions such as Power Rangers – in town again at Studio West and on location – this year is another strong one.

"The local industry is in a very good place, with confidence as a result of the pipeline of international and domestic productions and the new infrastructure coming on stream," he said.

WARNER BROS. PICTURES/YouTube The Meg is scheduled to open in NZ cinemas on August 16.

Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (Wreda) business growth and Innovation general manager David Jones said it was good for New Zealand that both their own and Auckland's screen sectors were doing well.

"Auckland has a strength in the TV and commercial production and Wellington excels in feature films. If both destinations do well, New Zealand will grow its reputation as a place to get world-class screen productions made – whether for the big screen or small.



"But for both regions to continue to be successful the industry can't concentrate on TV and film alone – we need to focus on new types of more immersive entertainment. Wellington is growing expertise in virtual, augmented and mixed realities which are tipped to be at the forefront of a revolution in how we experience entertainment.



"Wellington's gaming sector is also thriving with industry leader PikPok's game Into the Dead 2 hitting six million downloads across Google Play and the App Store in its first week of release last year.



"What the latest data shows is that the New Zealand Screen sector is in good health and can face the future with confidence."

Stats NZ's ​O'Leary said the overall gross revenue for New Zealand's screen industry businesses, which includes those working on the production and post-production of commercials, television shows, online-only programmes and other media, as well as movie theatres, increased by 8 per cent to $3.5b in 2017, with the Auckland region's figures up by 16 per cent.