Hobbit fever grabs Wellington on eve of premiere

DPA/WellingtonHobbit fever grabbed New Zealand’s capital Wellington – which is temporarily calling itself the Middle of Middle-earth – yesterday as stars flew in on the eve of the premiere of the latest JRR Tolkien movie blockbuster.An Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300, decorated with a 73m-long graphic featuring Gandalf and carrying a group of actors, landed to be met by the rest of the cast and director Sir Peter Jackson.“This is probably – I won’t say never – the last time we are ever going to do anything in Middle-earth,” Jackson said ahead of the premiere today of the first movie, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.Martin Freeman, who plays the star role of Bilbo Baggins, Elijah Wood (Frodo), Andy Serkis (reprising his role as Gollum in Jackson’s Oscar-winning trilogy The Lord of the Rings) and Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakenshield) had already arrived in Wellington.They were expected to be joined on the red carpet by Cate Blanchett, who plays Elf Queen Galadriel, Hugo Weaving (Elf Lord Elrond) and Australian Barry Humphries (better known as Dame Edna Everage) who plays the Goblin King.A notable absentee will be Sir Ian McKellen, who is playing Gandalf the Grey, as he did in The Lord of the Rings. But his presence will be seen in the shape of a 9.4m sculpture towering over the facade of the Embassy Theatre, the main premiere venue for 750 invited guests.Another 1,250 people will see it simultaneously at the multi-screen Reading Cinemas on the entertainment strip Courtenay Place. Bars and restaurants with vantage point views of the 500m red carpet where the stars will promenade had been booked for months.Authorities expected tens of thousands of people to turn out to try to catch a glimpse of the action and the city council is spending more than NZ$1mn ($810,000) on Hobbit-related activities.They include erecting giant screens at a nearby park to relay the red carpet parade for fans who cannot get close.Television channels are promising a four-hour special for those at home and throughout the nation of 4.4mn people.The film will be released worldwide on December 14 after premieres in the US and Britain. Jackson said it would be seen on 25,000 screens in 3D, IMAX and 2D.The second instalment, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, will be released on December 13, 2013 with the final movie, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, scheduled to open on July 18, 2014.