A stretch of South Auckland has ended up on the world stage, with scenes from The Wrecking Crew filmed in and around Queen Street, Ōtāhuhu and nearby roads.
The new action-comedy stars Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista, and while the story is set in Honolulu, parts of the production used Auckland as a stand-in for large-scale action sequences, including car chases and stunt work.
The filming locations being talked about online include the Ōtāhuhu town centre, with local posts pointing to familiar shopfronts and street angles that look like South Auckland on screen even when the plot is meant to be somewhere else. It is the sort of moment that gets people pausing a scene, zooming in, and then sending it around to mates with “that’s us” energy.
The film also has small moments that land well with Pacific viewers. One scene shows Momoa wearing an ie lavalava, a quick bit of humour that got laughs and felt familiar for anyone who grew up around island homes and church life.
Industry sources in Auckland have also been open about the scale of the shoot. Screen Auckland said the film was shot over roughly two months across the region.
For locals, that scale usually shows up in practical ways first, traffic management, short-term road closures, trucks and equipment parked up, and sections of a street dressed to look like somewhere else. It is not glamorous from the footpath, but it is real work happening in a real neighbourhood, and it brings crews into places that do not often see this level of production activity.
The film is already out for viewers, having been released on Prime Video in late January 2026. That timing has helped drive the current wave of posts because people can now spot the locations for themselves, rather than hearing about them months in advance.
The project also includes strong connections to Aotearoa on screen, with Temuera Morrison among the cast. It is another reminder that Auckland is not only providing backdrops. New Zealand talent, crews, and production capability are part of what makes these large projects possible.
In a recent report, 1News quoted Momoa speaking warmly about filming in New Zealand, again reinforcing the actor’s long-running affection for the country and the people he works with here. That sort of publicity matters because it strengthens Auckland’s reputation as a place where international productions can land and get complex work done.
For Ōtāhuhu, the wider value is not just a quick thrill of recognition. It is also about visibility. When a busy town centre doubles as a major US city in a global release, it puts a different lens on places that are often only discussed through local politics or stereotypes. It does not change the everyday reality of the suburb, but it does widen the story people tell about it.
And for viewers, there is something quietly satisfying about it all. A Hollywood-scale chase scene or a loud stunt moment, built from streets Aucklanders know well, then edited into a world that looks thousands of kilometres away. That is the job. That is the craft. And this time, it happened right there in Ōtāhuhu.
