One of the Biggest Movies in New Zealand History Is Getting a Television Sequel 30 Years Later

In the early-to-mid 1990s, there was one word occupying the collective mind of the film world: dinosaurs. Indeed, when Jurassic Park first burst onto screens in 1993 and changed cinema forever, Steven Spielberg’s legendary blockbuster continued to spend quite a bit of time basking in the attention of the entire planet, with one exception.

That exception was New Zealand, who just a year later ushered in Once Were Warriors, the Lee Tamahori-helmed, Temuera Morrison-led drama based on the Alan Duff novel of the same name that would go on to not just surpass Jurassic Park’s box office record but to become the country’s highest-grossing film of all time. And now, one of the crown jewels of New Zealand’s film history is getting a brand new television sequel.

Per Deadline, The Wheel of Time executive producer Rick Selvage will spearhead the yet-untitled episodic television sequel that will take place 30 years after the original film, which told the story of the Heke family; descendants of Māori warriors who contest with the trials of poverty, domestic violence, and the overarching colonial debilitation faced by Māori culture and people.

As you may have pieced together from the time-skip and the original film’s release year, the show will take place in the present day, and will subsequently revisit Once Were Warriors‘ harrowingly weighty themes against the backdrop of present-day Auckland and Rotorua, which itself adds even more nuance to the show’s lens on multiculturalism and the socio-economic realities of today’s society.

Believe me when I say that this will not be a show one should sleep on if it does the original film the proper justice. Heinously stomach-churning and terrifying a watch as it is, there’s no denying the impact that Once Were Warriors has made on a thematic, cultural, and emotional level ever since it was introduced to audiences back in 1994, and it will be nothing short of fascinating to discover how Selvage and company decide to bring this next chapter of the Heke family to life.

At the time of writing, it’s not yet apparent where the series will be available to watch.

(featured image: Communicado Productions)