Apple’s new Everest film Tenzing starts shooting in Nepal with Tom Hiddleston as Sir Edmund Hillary

• A biopic on Sherpa Tenzing Norgay’s Mt Everest ascent with Sir Edmund Hillary began filming in Nepal.
• Tom Hiddleston stars as Hillary, Willem Dafoe as Colonel John Hunt, and Caitríona Balfe joins the cast.
• Directed by Jennifer Peedom, filming is in Kathmandu and the Everest region over one month.

A new biopic on Sherpa Tenzing Norgay‘s world-first ascent of Mt Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary began filming in Nepal this week, with Hollywood stars and film sets starting to pop up on the streets of Kathmandu.

A video shared to social media yesterday shows a large-scale production unfolding within inner-city Kathmandu, with packhorses and dozens of extras in costume taking their place around a bustling square.

The square where the video was taken is presumed to be Basantapur Durbar Square, a Unesco World Heritage Site that doubles as a popular filming location.

More than 300 foreigners have been brought in to work as part of the film crew, local outlet Online Khabar reported.

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Marvel actor Tom Hiddleston will star as the New Zealand mountaineering great Hillary in Tenzing, while Willem Dafoe is set to play the role of Colonel John Hunt, the British Army officer who led the group on mankind’s first successful summit of Mt Everest.

Irish actor Caitríona Balfe was recently announced to be joining the cast. She’ll play Jill Henderson, the secretary of the Himalayan Club and a friend of Norgay’s who helped organise expeditions up Mt Everest.

Nepali actor Thinley Lhamo has also been cast in an undisclosed role in the film.

Casting for the titular character, Tenzing Norgay, remains unconfirmed, with a search for the actor beginning last year.

As production starts ramping up, it’s expected Norgay’s character has already been cast and will soon be revealed, although they may still be looking for the right person to play the skilful mountaineer.

Apple’s film studio, Apple Studios LLC, won the rights to film the Everest climbing drama during an auction at Cannes Film Festival in May last year.

Tom Hiddleston will play Sir Edmund Hillary in the Tenzing biopic, which also stars Willem Dafoe as Colonel John Hunt. Photo / Bang Showbiz

It is being produced by See-Saw Films, which created Oscar-winning movie The King’s Speech and New Zealand-filmed series Top Of The Lake.

Australian film-maker Jennifer Peedom is signed on to direct the film. Having previously worked in Nepal on documentaries Sherpa and Miracle on Everest, she has a pre-existing connection to the Norgay family.

The script has been written by fellow Australian Luke Davies, whose 2016 film Lion received an Oscar nomination for best screenplay.

Production is expected to head into the Everest region soon, with Online Khabar reporting scheduled shoots in Jomsom, Bandipur, Sindhupalchok, and Khumjung in Solukhumbu.

Filming in Nepal is expected to last one month.

Nepal has served as the backdrop for several international blockbuster films in recent years.

Scenes from 2015’s Everest and 2016’s Doctor Strange, for example, have helped to boost Nepal’s cinematic standing and exposed the country to a wider audience in the West.

Tom Rose is an Auckland-based journalist who covers breaking news, specialising in lifestyle, entertainment and travel. He joined the Herald in 2023.