Strath Taieri, Queenstown and Central Otago landscapes are
being showcased to the world in a new six-minute film clip
included in all DVD releases of The Hobbit: An Unexpected
Journey.
One of the world's leading anti-smoking researchers and
campaigners has accused the New Zealand Government of
hypocrisy and sabotaging its own efforts to eliminate tobacco
use by 2025.
Worldwide fans of The Hobbit will be told Queenstown
is ''a beautiful jewel at the bottom of the world'' and
Strath Taieri is ''glorious'' when they watch a special
feature on the locations used in the trilogy from the comfort
of their own homes.
The Prime Minister's office is standing by its tally of the
number of jobs created by The Hobbit after criticism it had
plucked the number "out of thin air".
A majority of New Zealanders polled by the New Zealand Herald
back the $67 million in tax breaks given to the producers of
The Hobbit by the Government - but only if the films return
more than that to the local economy.
The Hobbit trilogy is already being credited with a big boost
to New Zealand tourism with flight bookings jumping
significantly as fans flock here for a taste of Middle-earth.
Fire up your foot-long clay pipes, lean back, smile and
breathe a sigh of relief, good people of the Shire, for the
first instalment of The Hobbit is a hit. For the most part.
Andy Serkis reprises his role as Gollum in "The Hobbit: An
Unexpected Journey," to be released worldwide this week, but
his main role this time was as a second unit director,
shooting battle sequences in 3D for director Peter Jackson.
