Development and writing (pictured) directed
The Mountain and co-wrote the script with
Tom Furniss The Mountain script was co-written by
Tom Furniss and
Rachel House. The film also marked House's directorial debut. Furniss' original script centred around three
Pakeha/
European New Zealander boys climbing the mountain. House, who is
Māori, revised the script to incorporate Māori characters, culture and stories. While Mallory remained Pakeha, Sam and Bronco were revised as Māori, with Sam becoming a girl. House also introduced the idea of having Sam reconnect with her Māori cultural heritage in the story. While Furniss' script did not name the mountain, House chose
Mount Taranaki as the film setting, saying that she "thought it was a wonderful opportunity to try and explain how we feel about our
maunga (mountains)." House explained that mountains were significant to Māori culture, describing them as "ancient living ancestors who have shaped and formed our identity, belonging and connection to each other." Mount Taranaki and the surrounding peaks are considered ancestors by eight local Māori tribes. The mountain and its surrounding peaks were granted legal personhood in 2023 under the name
Te Kāhui Tupua by the
New Zealand Government as redress for their confiscation in
1866.
Casting The film featured the acting debuts of three child actors: Elizabeth Atkinson (Sam), Reuben Francis (Mallory) and Terence Daniel (Bronco). House made the deliberate decision to cast 11 year old actors, stating during an interview with
The Spinoff that it was the age "just before they were about to kind of move into being rangatahi (teenagers) while they still have their ability to believe in magic, for want of a better word." House and several cast and crew members including Francis and Atkinson came from the Taranaki region; with House and Atkinson coming from the
Ngāti Mutunga and
Te Atiawa tribes. Supporting cast members included
Troy Kingi, Byron Coll, Sukena Shah and
Fern Sutherland.
Filming in April and May 2023 Filming took place on location at Mount Taranaki with support from the local
Māori iwi (tribe)
Taranaki Whānui. The film was produced by
Piki Films and
Sandy Lane Productions. Desray Armstrong and Morgan Waru served as producers while
Carthew Neal,
Taika Waititi and Paul Wiegard served as executive producers. Filming lasted four weeks and concluded in mid-May 2023.
The Mountain received funding from several entities including the
New Zealand Film Commission, the
New Zealand Government's Screen Production Grant,
NZ On Air,
Whakaata Māori, the Department of Post, Native Audio, Nude Run, Hillfarrance and
Kiwibank.
Post-production Due to the clear conditions during filming,
Wētā FX digitally inserted clouds into the film footage during post-production.
Troy Kingi and
Arli Liberman composed the film's soundtrack. ==Release==