Predator: Badlands filmed in New Zealand’s varied terrain and film-friendly economics.
The Location Guide - 5 November 2025, in Production News by Kianna Best
Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator: Badlands filmed key scenes in New Zealand, with principal photography conducted in Auckland and Rotorua, as the director and studio leaned on the country’s varied terrain and film-friendly economics to build a futuristic, brutal world.
Trachtenberg, who earned praise for 2022’s Prey, returned to helm the franchise’s newest instalment, which flips the usual human-centered lens and follows Dek, a young Predator outcast, and Thia, an android played by Elle Fanning, on a perilous hunt on the planet Genna. The film’s trailers and festival materials promise large-scale creature work, towering set pieces and a tonal blend of high-stakes action and dark humor. YouTube+1
Why New Zealand? The choice was both aesthetic and economic. Rotorua’s steaming geothermal fields and forested ridgelines offered alien, otherworldly exteriors the production needed, while Auckland supplied studio space and local production infrastructure for interior work and VFX-heavy sequences. New Zealand’s track record hosting big genre shoots, from The Lord of the Rings to modern blockbusters, made it an obvious fit for the film’s mix of practical sets and digital effects.
Financially, New Zealand has been aggressively competitive. The New Zealand Screen Production Rebate (NZSPR) provides an automatic cash rebate on qualifying New Zealand production expenditure, typically 20% for international productions, with the possibility of a 5% uplift for projects that demonstrate significant economic benefits, and higher rates for bona fide New Zealand productions. Recent government budget allocations have further boosted the rebate pool to sustain demand and attract large-scale inbound projects. Those incentives, combined with experienced local crews and post-production facilities, make filming there materially cheaper and operationally smoother than many alternatives. The production assembled an internationally minded but locally supported crew. Producers listed include John Davis and Brent O’Connor alongside Trachtenberg; Jeff Cutter handled cinematography while Sarah Schachner and Benjamin Wallfisch contributed the score, according to production listings. The filmmakers tapped New Zealand-based practical effects and make-up teams for Predator suits and creature work, a common draw for local specialists adept at hybrid practical/CG monster filmmaking.
On casting, lead roles were announced early: Elle Fanning headlines as Thia, a damaged synthetic with ties to the Weyland-Yutani iconography teased in trailers, while newcomer Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi plays Dek, the Predator protagonist navigating exile and honour. The emphasis on non-human leads and the Yautja perspective marks a franchise shift, one Trachtenberg emphasised in panels and interviews. Studio strategy also factors into the choice: 20th Century Studios and parent company Disney have shown a willingness to let the Predator franchise experiment, and placing production in New Zealand provides creative room and cost predictability. The country’s incentives not only reduce direct spend but often unlock local co-production talent and VFX pipelines that streamline post-production timelines and quality. Recent government investments into the NZSPR underline Wellington’s desire to remain a global screen hub.
As Predator: Badlands moves toward its theatrical release, watchers will be looking to see whether Trachtenberg’s Predator-centred approach and the production’s New Zealand grounding produce a new franchise high. For New Zealand, the shoot is another high-profile example of how geography, crew expertise and targeted incentives continue to attract tent pole film making to the islands, delivering jobs, tourism interest and a recurring economic payoff for local suppliers.