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The Hobbit films, thousands of jobs and the local film industry are in danger after boycott threats orchestrated by an "Australian bully boy" union, Sir Peter Jackson says.
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) said Hollywood stars such as Sir Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving -- all reportedly taking part in the Lord of the Rings prequel -- supported a boycott.
Sir Peter said in a statement he was "not anti-union in the slightest" and he always honoured actors' union conditions.
"I can't see beyond the ugly spectre of an Australian bully-boy using what he perceives as his weak Kiwi cousins to gain a foothold in this country's film industry. They want greater membership, since they get to increase their bank balance," he said.
"I feel growing anger at the way this tiny minority is endangering a project that hundreds of people have worked on over the last two years, and the thousands about to be employed for the next four years, (and) the hundreds of millions of Warner Brothers dollars that is about to be spent in our economy."
Losing The Hobbit would leave New Zealand "humiliated on the world stage" but The International Federation of Actors, which represents the world's seven major actors unions, has told its members not to act in The Hobbit until they get a union contract, Sir Peter said.
MEAA national director Simon Whipp said all performers were concerned about the lack of standard union contracts for the two-part Hobbit films, the Dominion Post reported.
"Members of British Equity have certainly spoken to Ian McKellen about it ... In fact, we have spoken to all the performers who have been approached, or are rumoured to be involved in, the production and all have expressed strong support (for the boycott)," he said.
There was concern producers would not pay fees in standard union contracts, such as payments from DVD sales, he said.
"Those are the things all of us are concerned about and differentiate New Zealand, from a performer's perspective, from working almost anywhere else in the English-speaking world."
Mr Whipp said MEAA performers would meet in Auckland tomorrow night to access the situation.
New Line and MGM studios are financing the films. New Line declined to comment and MGM were unavailable, The BBC reported.
The FIA said producers had argued that entering into an agreement with the union would break New Zealand competition laws.
The setback was the latest to hit the movies, which have been in the pipeline for several years.
Filming was originally scheduled to start last year, but will now not take place until 2011.
Mexican-born director Guillermo Del Toro was originally to direct the movies but pulled out in June because of the delays.
Sir Peter, who won the Oscar for best director for his work on Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, is expected to replace him at the helm, although no official announcement has been made.