The crew spent several weeks at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah before moving to New Zealand to film the rest of the movie over 11 weeks in 2004.
Southland’s main centre, Invercargill, played host to the film crew of The World's Fastest Indian during the New Zealand portion of the film. Local residents even had their chance to appear on the big screen when Invercargill’s Southland Times ran an ad calling for locals ‘older than 21’ to star alongside Anthony Hopkins as crowd and background extras.
Horses making the most of Oreti Beach
A key location for the New Zealand shoot was beautiful Oreti Beach, which was used for Munro’s beach racing scenes. The street where the Post Office was set is called The Crescent, and had 1960s phone booths and parking meters fitted especially for the shoot.
For those visiting the Invercargill, many of Burt Munro’s tools and props from his toolshed are on display in a local hardware store. Sir Anthony Hopkins borrowed these during filming to add to his character’s authenticity.
