Writer-Director Taika Waititi began to work on the film that later became Hunt for the Wilderpeople in 2005. Working from New Zealand-native Barry Crump’s book Wild Pork and Watercress, Waititi wrote quite a few drafts of the film. Waititi’s early drafts, for example, stayed remarkably close to Crump’s book. However, in later drafts, Waititi made the decision to depart from the novel in story and tone.
Like many scripts, Waititi’s script for Hunt for the Wilderpeople sat on the shelf for over a decade before getting made. And it was only because of the tremendous success of his debut film Eagle vs. Shark, 2010’s Boy, and 2014’s smash hit What We Do in the Shadows that Waititi was able to make Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Waititi shot Hunt for the Wilderpeople over the course of five weeks in locations like Central Plateau and the Waitākere Ranges using only a single camera, a rarity for a full-length feature film.
Reviews of the film, and particularly of Waititi's direction, were generally positive. In his review of the film, Brian Tallerico writes, "Dennison, Waititi and Neill find depth within the characters, as small moments become the foundation for the film’s emotion. They don’t play the coming-of-age arc, they play the reality of each scene. It may sound obvious, but so many films like Hunt for the Wilderpeople try to play the emotion instead of grounding it in character."
