New Zealand has become a key location for the film industry ever since Peter Jackson brought it to the world in The Lord of the Rings films. I'd guess that the second biggest franchise to call the nation home has to be Avatar. Director James Cameron also calls the country his home, having lived there since 2020. While Avatar certainly plays its part in that choice, it seems likely the director would live in New Zealand even if the movies never happened.
In a clip from an upcoming episode of the In Depth with Graham Bensinger podcast, James Cameron reveals that his love affair with New Zealand actually started 15 years before the first Avatar film. He made an unscheduled stop there back in 1994, and before he left, he decided he would move there, eventually. Cameron explains…
