Tantalising glimpses of Otago landscapes used by the
film-makers shooting The Hobbit appear in another
production video presented by Sir Peter Jackson.
The wait is over for Middle Earth fans - the first Hobbit
trailer has been released. Now they just have to get through
another 12 months until the first of the two films is out.
Up to 250 members of The Hobbit film crew were working
on Treble Cone, in the Matukituki Valley, yesterday but those
in charge were keeping mum about who was in town and what
part of J.R.R. Tolkein's popular story was being filmed.
The news yesterday that Sir Peter Jackson and his wife Fran
Walsh have secured the future of Wellington's innovative Bats
theatre - which has over the years nurtured a small pantheon
of original home-grown talent - by buying the central-city
building housing it, coincides with his working sojourn to
this part of the world.
Sir Peter Jackson says the sunshine, mountains and fresh air of Arcadia Station, near Queenstown, have raised both his spirits and those of the 450 cast and crew of The Hobbit.
The old giant beech tree which prompted Sir Peter Jackson and
450 cast and crew members to film a scene for The Hobbit near
Paradise, beyond Glenorchy and Queenstown, survived for a
century until a storm blew it down six weeks ago.
The production company for Sir Peter Jackson's The Hobbit
racked up $20.2 million for its tax rebate in the first year
of production, according to its financial statements.
The green world of a hobbit means a 10,000 litre water tank
will have to be placed near Glenorchy for the irrigation of
the temporary grasses and plants on the set of the Peter
Jackson-directed film The Hobbit.
