The battle for Middle Earth erupted on the streets of New Zealand yesterday as thousands of people rallied to keep The Hobbit movies in the country.
“Save The Hobbit” rally organizer Paul Barlow said the nationwide action was deliberately timed to coincide with the arrival of Warner Bros executives for crunch meetings to determine the fate of the films.
The location for filming The Hobbit, the long-awaited two-part prequel to The Lord of the Rings, has been in doubt since the actors’ union NZ Equity called for a global boycott while it sought to negotiate a minimum standards agreement.
Although the threat of industrial strife has since been lifted, the riled backers of the movie have said the union’s actions caused “substantial damage,” forcing them to consider other filming locations.
Rallies to keep The Hobbit in New Zealand were staged in all the main centers as well as the small North Island township of Matamata where the sets for the -Hobbit village of Hobbiton have been built. Thousands of people, many dressed as characters from the JRR Tolkien books, turned out to show their support for director Sir Peter Jackson and for the movies to be made in New Zealand.
In Wellington, where the Warner Bros team are to meet New Zealand Prime Minister John Key today, placards at the rally included: “Hey Warner, we’re all bros here,” and “We love Hobbits.”
Key said it was a “50-50” call whether The Hobbit would remain in New Zealand.
“I’d love to tell you that it’s a done deal, but we’re a long way away from being a done deal. There’s a number of issues that we’d need to resolve,” he told reporters.
With estimates for the movie cost put between US$500 million and US$750 million, Warner Bros needed to be sure they could meet deadlines, Key said.
“They like New Zealand, and clearly Peter Jackson wants to work out of New Zealand, but ... unfortunately the actions of the unions have forced Warner Bros to go and look at other locations and that could be to New Zealand’s detriment.”
Special effects expert and five-time Oscar winner Richard Taylor said the rallies aimed to send a message that New Zealand was the “greatest place in the world” to make movies, including The Hobbit.
He remained hopeful that filming would remain in New Zealand, saying “the alternative is just too bleak to consider.”
Taylor also read a letter from Jackson, who thanked people for their support.
At the rally in the South Island city of Christchurch, actor Axel Scott said if the movies were taken offshore it would damage the country’s film industry.
“With no movies here that means no actors, no need for crew, no need for casting agents and no need for Peter [Jackson],” he said.
Over the weekend, New Zealand unions issued an “absolute assurance” of no disruption if The Hobbit filming remains in the country, but it was not enough to convince the Warner executives to call off their visit.
New Zealand has cashed in on the global exposure of the country’s natural scenery as shown in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but Jackson has warned the country’s NZ$3 billion (US$2.3 billion) a year film industry would be devastated if The Hobbit moved elsewhere.
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