Media watch as an Air New Zealand 777-300 plane carrying some cast members of the film “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” taxies on the tarmac at Wellington Airport. Up to 100,000 people are expected to crowd into central Wellington for the world premiere of Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit”, an event that has sparked Middle Earth mania in New Zealand. –AFP
Up to 100,000 people are expected to crowd into central Wellington Wednesday for the world premiere of Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit”, an event that has sparked Middle Earth mania in New Zealand.
Presenters on national radio greeted listeners in the fictional language elvish on Wednesday morning, while newspapers came with complimentary Hobbit posters and sculptures of characters from the film dotted the capital.
Hundreds of fans, many in costume, staked out spots early in the day hoping for a glimpse of stars such as Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood and Martin Freeman treading a 500-metre (550-yard) red carpet leading to the Embassy Theatre.
“It’s going to be magical,” said Mia Ramsden, who travelled from Melbourne, Australia, for the premiere and camped overnight in central Wellington dressed as the elf queen Arwen to claim a prime position to view the stars.
Wellington has renamed itself “The Middle of Middle Earth” for the event and the New Zealand tourism industry has launched a major promotional push on the back of the movies, hoping to revive flagging international visitor numbers.
An undated handout photo obtained from Warner Bros on November 23 shows a scene from Peter Jackson’s new movie “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,? which has its world premiere in Wellington. Hundreds of fans, many in costume, staked out spots early in the day hoping for a glimpse of stars such as Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood and Martin Freeman treading a 550-yard red carpet leading to the Embassy Theatre. –AFP
Jackson this week admitted he was nervous about the reception his three-part prequel to the blockbuster “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy would receive, saying he had “lost all objectivity” during a lengthy and gruelling shoot.
“Nothing’s ever perfect and it never will be, it’s a real mistake if you say we’re stopping now because we’ve made the perfect film,” he told Radio New Zealand. “You never have and you never will.”
The films, which were shot back-to-back in New Zealand with an estimated budget of US$500 million, depict Bilbo’s quest to reclaim the lost dwarf kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug.
Bringing them to the screen proved a saga in itself, taking more than six years after the project was first mooted in September 2006.
Critics have questioned if a three-part saga is necessary, given the original book is barely 300 pages long, suggesting box-office returns — US$2.9 billion for the “Rings” trilogy — may have trumped artistic considerations.
The first movie “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” will be released globally in December.
The second, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” is due in December 2013 and the final chapter “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” follows in July 2014. –AFP