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Where Was The Minecraft Movie (2025) Filmed? New Zealand & Canada Biomes Revealed

2025

Jared Hess

Added May 22, 2025

9 Locations

Discover the real-world filming locations of *A Minecraft Movie* (2025), from New Zealand's lush terrain to Canada's rugged mountains. Explore where Minecraft's Overworld came to life in this cinematic video game adaptation.

About Where Was The Minecraft Movie (2025) Filmed? New Zealand & Canada Biomes Revealed

Where Was The Minecraft Movie (2025) Filmed?

From grassy plains to pixel-perfect props, The Minecraft Movie was filmed across real-world landscapes that resemble Minecraft’s Overworld, villages, and strongholds. Let’s dig into the exact filming locations.

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📍 Key Minecraft Movie Filming Locations

🏞️ Queenstown & Rotorua — Biome Establishing Shots

These New Zealand sites are known for cinematic landscapes. They stand in for Minecraft’s plains, forest hills, and swamp biomes.

🏘️ Helensville — Real-World Prologue

This small Kiwi town was used to film opening scenes before characters get pulled into the Minecraft realm.

⛏️ Huntly — Mining Area Recreation

Huntly’s unique terrain and coal mining legacy made it perfect for deep cave sequences and pickaxe training montages.

🎥 Canadian Cities — Studio Magic

Calgary, Vancouver, and Montréal filled in as stand-ins for Minecraft's strongholds, villages, and urbanized mod-style zones.

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🎥 Behind the Blocks

Hybrid Approach: The movie balances real camera work with CGI overlays, enhancing realism without losing its cube-based charm.

Practical Effects: Prop blocks, trees, and weapons were built full-scale on location for close-up interaction.

Wētā FX Touch: New Zealand’s legendary VFX house helped transform the raw footage into digital dreams.

Director’s Mission: Jared Hess wanted to make the world “feel tactile, blocky, but believable.”

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🧳 Travel Tips for Minecraft Fans

Rotorua & Huntly: Ideal for landscape lovers — book nature hikes or drive to geothermal zones nearby.

Helensville: Stay in town or visit local farms used in the film.

Montréal: Consider film location walking tours downtown; many are near the old port and city squares.

Best Visiting Season: March to May or September to November — mild temps, fewer crowds.

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🔗 Related Articles

Where Was The Lego Movie Created?

Where Was The Super Mario Bros. Movie Filmed?

Where Was The Hobbit Filmed?

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❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Was A Minecraft Movie filmed entirely in CGI? Nope. While CGI is used extensively, key scenes were filmed in real-world locations and digitally voxelized later. Can I visit the Minecraft filming spots? Yes! Queenstown, Rotorua, and Helensville are all open to the public and tourism-friendly. Where were the mining scenes filmed? Those rugged underground-style shots were filmed near Huntly, NZ, and enhanced with VFX. Are there any official Minecraft Movie tours? Not yet, but Hobbiton-style tourism is picking up around Rotorua and Auckland — and themed combo tours are launching soon.

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🧱 Share Your Minecraft Adventure IRL

Have you explored the pixel-inspired landscapes of New Zealand or Canada? Tag us on Instagram or leave a comment below with your Overworld moments!

Year Released

2025

Director

Jared Hess

Filming Locations

9 locations

Behind the Scenes

*A Minecraft Movie* brings the pixelated game to life through a blend of New Zealand’s natural wonders and Canadian cityscapes. With practical props, location shoots, and CGI overlays, director Jared Hess created an Overworld that feels authentic — yet familiar to every player.

Filming spanned both hemispheres, with primary work done across New Zealand’s North Island.
Helensville and Huntly provided rural and industrial backdrops to mimic Minecraft’s varied zones.
Vancouver and Montréal helped fill in for stylized city and endgame sequences.
Wētā FX contributed to visual effects, voxelizing real-world terrain for key transitions.
Set designers recreated props like crafting tables and trees to scale using foam, paint, and 3D-printing.

Location Gallery

Queenstown, New Zealand

Helensville, New Zealand

Huntly, New Zealand

Rotorua Hills, NZ

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Vancouver, British Columbia

Travel Tips

Best time to visit most of these locations is during spring or fall for mild weather.
Consider booking accommodations in advance, especially during tourist season.
Guided tours are available that cover Queenstown, New Zealand, Helensville, New Zealand, Huntly, New Zealand in one day.