Tourism New Zealand will showcase New Zealand as the home of the new Disney movie Pete’s Dragon.

Disney will receive about $20 million in taxpayer subsidies for making Pete's Dragon in New Zealand after it became the first feature film to qualify for a 25 per cent production rebate.

Previously the maximum rebate had been 20 per cent.

Disney vice president MaryAnn Hughes said the US company spent about $88m in New Zealand on the film, though not quite all that would qualify for the incentive. She is visiting Wellington to attend a screening of the film for crew and supporters on Friday.

All of the special effects for Pete's Dragon were produced by Wellington firm Weta Digital.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce said the rewards New Zealand got from its involvement with The Hobbit were "if anything probably greater than what we expected" and he expected "significant benefits" from Pete's Dragon also.

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NICOLE JOHNSTONE/FAIRFAX NZ Tapanui is preparing to welcome tourists keen to see where the film was shot.

But he said the Government wanted the film industry to become less dependent on international business over time and film subsidies would be reviewed "at some point".

CAMERON BURNELL/FAIRFAX NZ. Pete's Dragon director David Lowry may yet get to return to New Zealand for more film-making.

Pete's Dragon, which was entirely shot in New Zealand, premiered in Hollywood on Tuesday and is scheduled to be screened in nearly 4000 US cinemas.

"When you are a small country, 'product placement' in popular movies is one way – and New Zealand has proven a successful way – to brand yourself on the world stage," Joyce said.

"But then we also want to see our own industry develop and our ability to tell stories, so we are little less dependent on the international business over time."

Hughes said the 5 per cent rebate "uplift" Disney negotiated had allowed it to take production out from Wellington and to film in regional locations such as Tapanui in Otago and Rotorua, which it would not otherwise have been able to justify even though that had made it "a much better quality production".

"It is very expensive to move locations."

Tourism NZ has struck a deal with Disney to use footage from the film and interviews with actors to promote New Zealand as a tourism destination.

Hughes did not believe tourists would be too disappointed to find the country's largest reptile was actually a Tuatara.

"When people see the movie what they are really going to see is the majestic beautiful landscape of New Zealand. Good Morning America reporter Sarah Haines said it best: 'If there were dragons in the world this is where they would live'."

Joyce said the Government raised the maximum film production rebate to 25 per cent in 2014 to respond to "market needs" and the strength of the kiwi dollar.

"We had to move up to stay competitive. We did that in a very gingerly fashion."

Hughes said New Zealand's incentives were "definitely competitive but not overly generous". The US state of Georgia offered a 30 per cent rebate, Ireland 32 per cent and the UK 25 per cent, she said.

Green Party broadcasting spokesman Gareth Hughes has been critical of government support for controversial employment-law changes that aided US studios, and questioned why the computer games industry does not enjoy similar financial support.

But he said the Greens wanted to see more films shot and more people employed in the industry. He did not believe New Zealand was responsible for ratcheting up a "global arms race" in taxpayer incentives.

Joyce agreed some of the benefits of film subsidies fell indirectly on private New Zealand firms. In return, Kiwis could expect them to be good corporate citizens and to contribute to the local economy "and I think they do", he said.

PETE'S DRAGON ON THE SCALES

- Movie rated 7.3/10 on review site IMDh by 284 reviewers (average score for a movie on IMDh is 6.4)

- 1040 crew (810 New Zealanders)

- Cast of 40 (31 New Zealanders, including six key roles)

- Main street in Otago town of Tapanui (population 900) closed for seven days for filming

- 100 per cent of special effects created by Weta Digital in New Zealand

- Disney received a 25 per cent "rebate" on its qualifying NZ production costs, worth about $20m.

- The film is scheduled to screen in at least 3700 US cinemas