Middle Earth Mania in Wellington for 'Hobbit' Debut

Huge crowds swarm central Wellington for the world premiere of Peter Jackson's 'The Hobbit', an event that sparks Middle Earth mania and brings a touch of Hollywood to New Zealand.

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6 months ago

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Entertainment

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Celebrity

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Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood, Peter Jackson, Martin Freeman

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New Zealand, Wellington

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the hobbit

Transcript

SHOTLIST: WELLINGTON, NOV 28, 2012, SOURCE: AFP - VAR of large crowds of fans waiting to see the cast of “The Hobbit” movie on the red carpet during the Worldwide Premiere of the movie - WS of actor Elijah Wood walking onto the stage during the premiere - Actor Barry Humpries walks onto the stage - Actress Cate Blanchett walks onto the stage - MS of actress Cate Blanchett speaking to the media - Crowds at the premiere - Peter Jackson and his daughter Katie pose for photos on the red carpet /// -------------------------------------------------------------- AFP TEXT STORY: Entertainment-NZealand-film-Hobbit,3rdlead Middle Earth mania in Wellington for Hobbit debut by Neil Sands WELLINGTON, Nov 28, 2012 (AFP) - Huge crowds swarmed central Wellington on Wednesday for the world premiere of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit", an event that sparked Middle Earth mania and brought a touch of Hollywood to New Zealand. Presenters on national radio greeted listeners in the fictional language elvish, while newspapers came with free Hobbit posters and sculptures of characters from the film dotted the capital. Up to 100,000 fans, many in costume, staked out spots hoping for a glimpse of stars such as Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood and Martin Freeman treading the red carpet leading to the Embassy Theatre, which was decked out as a hobbit house. "The whole of Wellington seems to be here, it's extraordinary," Wood said as he made his way past chanting spectators in scenes more reminiscent of a sporting event than a movie premiere. The city 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 Air New Zealand Boeing 777 covered in Hobbit-themed livery made a flyover just before the screening of the first in a three-part prequel to Jackson's blockbuster "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The normally reclusive director admitted he was anxious about how the movie would be received and said his rock star welcome at the premiere was "humbling" after a gruelling shoot. "It will be the first time I will be seeing the movie with an audience, I only just finished it, so I'm very nervous," he said. "Once the film is out and a lot of people are seeing it, it becomes almost owned by the cinemagoers of the world. At the moment it just has left our hands." Oscar-winner Blanchett said she was so keen to reprise her role of Galadriel in the films that "I did stalk him (Jackson) a little bit". "I've long been a fan of Peter's," she added. "He's incredibly free, he's a free thinker, he's a free associator and somehow as a filmmaker even though he's got this enormous trilogy on his shoulders, he's very, very nimble." The Hobbit was filmed at a hyper-realistic 48 frames a second rather than the usual 24. Director James Cameron predicted the innovation would spark a revolution in movie-making similiar to his own pioneering 3D work with "Avatar". "We charged out ahead on 3D with Avatar, now Peter's doing it with the Hobbit," he told reporters, taking a break from his New Zealand farm where he is working on scripts for Avatar sequels. "It takes that kind of bold move to make change." The movies, shot back-to-back in New Zealand with an estimated budget of US$500 million, depict hobbit Bilbo Baggins's quest to reclaim the lost dwarf kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Bringing the trilogy to the screen proved a saga in itself, taking more than six years since the project was first mooted. This included legal wrangling over book rights and a union dispute that threatened to move it from New Zealand. Jackson was also struck down by ill health and last week there were allegations -- strongly denied by producers -- of animal cruelty and a US lawsuit filed by Tolkien's heirs over marketing rights. Critics have also questioned if a three-part saga is necessary, given the original book is barely 300 pages long. They suggest box-office returns -- US$2.9 billion for the "Rings" trilogy -- may have trumped artistic considerations. There were no such reservations from fan Theresa Collins, who expects "The Hobbit" to repeat the success of Jackson's first Tolkien epic, which won 17 Oscars to become one of the most successful franchises in movie history. "It's going to be different, not as dark (as "Lord of the Rings")," she told AFP. "It will still have that fan base from Lord of the Rings and will probably build on that." The first movie "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" premiered in Wellington Wednesday 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. END