Just had an enjoyable afternoon and early evening going along to see the world premier of The Hobbit. I didn't get to see the film, but I was one of about 120,000 people who were outside, seeing all the stars arriving. I was lucky enough to get a good viewpoint just opposite the start of the red carpet which was perfect to see the famous and not so famous.

It was an incredible atmosphere with about 3% of the population of New Zealand there. Scaling up the numbers to the population of the US it would be like 3 million people being there!

As the film gets seen around the world, look out for the backdrops where you'll get to see New Zealand in all it's beauty, just like people saw in the Lord of the Rings films.

I've never been to New Zealand, but any country that can breed someone so lovely as Mrs MikeNZ deserves our attention.

Certainly I'll be watching the movie.

I can't wait to see it!  It looks to be epic!  :)

Quote:

...it would be like 3 million people being there!

3% of the US population would be more like 9 million! But who's counting? It would be a whole lot! It must have been a real rush!

Already many Oscar nominations predicted.  Cinematography in New Zealand will be one.    ;)

can't let my husband watch any of the movies about Tolkien's books.  He can literally quote you scense from them all and *if* he sees a movies, he goes ballistic because that's not the way the book was written

Premieres in theaters here on Dec 14th and looking forward to taking my son ;)

-Gregg in Las Vegas

Looking forward to it.  I have known for years that NZ is beautiful, but since seeing some of the scenery in LOTR I really want to get down there and see it.  At the top of my bucket list.

Jerry

Brew wrote on Nov 28^th, 2012 at 7:51am:

Quote: ...it would be like 3 million people being there! 3% of the US population would be more like 9 million! But who's counting? It would be a whole lot! It must have been a real rush!

9 million is about double the whole population of NZ!

Just about everyone I spoke to today either went there or knew someone who did and that is after talking to a few people from all over the country.

Adding a few photos, although not sure how to get more than one attachment per post.

First off, one of Air New Zealand's Boeing 777s did a flypast, decorated with a Hobbit theme.

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Adding a few photos, although not sure how to get more than one attachment per post.

First off, one of Air New Zealand's Boeing 777s did a flypast, decorated with a Hobbit theme. It was only at 1000 feet and 150 knots (very low and slow).

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Andy Serkis      ...      Gollum

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Cate Blanchett      ...      Galadriel

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Elijah Wood      ...      Frodo

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Martin Freeman      ...      Bilbo Baggins (The Hobbit!)

About two months ago whilst boarding a flight from Auckland to Wellington I let two people into the queue (line) in front of me, then realised that they were Martin Freeman and Sir Ian McKellen (who plays Gandalf), who acted just like two normal people getting on a plane. They made no fuss and everybody just let them get on with life with nobody making a scene. This is very typical NZ.

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Peter Jackson - the director

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James Nesbitt      ...      Bofur

I've a load of other pictures of people who turned up in limmos and walked down the red carpet. However I'm not exactly a film or celebrity buff so I'm still trying to figure out who some of them are. Those who are slightly height challenged are probably some of the other dwarfs but the rest might remain a mystery.

Anyway it was a load of fun.

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Mike, that is too cool!  Thank you for sharing the pictures!  I would have loved to have been there. :)

They all look a little tall to be hobbits. :)

Kiwi filmmaker Peter Jackson, in considering actors to play the malevolent and morbidly obese  Great Goblin, said, "The character is very uncouth, has very bad personal hygiene issues, its vocabulary is quite small, so it seemed it had to be someone from Australia."

(I resemble that remark!)

It was played of course by the great Aussie actor Barry Humphries aka Sir Les Patterson and Dame Edna Everage. On learning that the fearful goiter swinging on his neck was created through motion-capture technology, he said, "I always thought motion-capture was something you did when taking a specimen to the doctor."

AussieBrian wrote on Nov 29^th, 2012 at 11:26pm:

Kiwi filmmaker Peter Jackson, in considering actors to play the malevolent and morbidly obese  Great Goblin, said, "The character is very uncouth, has very bad personal hygiene issues, its vocabulary is quite small, so it seemed it had to be someone from Australia." (I resemble that remark!) It was played of course by the great Aussie actor Barry Humphries aka Sir Les Patterson and Dame Edna Everage. On learning that the fearful goiter swinging on his neck was created through motion-capture technology, he said, "I always thought motion-capture was something you did when taking a specimen to the doctor."

That helped me identify someone else. It was only with the description that I recognized someone else I snapped.

As for the quote from Peter Jackson, kiwis do love our cousins from over the ditch, unless underarm bowling is mentioned of course.

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Thanks for all the pictures and info.

I've been seeing and reading a quite a bit on NZ since they began this project. They say that it's done wonders for tourism as well.

Looks like fun!

Charlie

Charlie wrote on Nov 30^th, 2012 at 9:31am:

They say that it's done wonders for tourism as well.

The Lord of the Rings films will have resulted in millions of dollars flowing into New Zealand with tourists flying in to see where it all happened. Whilst for many it won't have been the only reason, it will have been a contributing reason to make them pick here over other destinations.

With the three Hobbit films over the next few years there will be another influx of visitors, which with tourism being our biggest industry is great news for the country. It's also good for our film industry too which is doing well with not just Peter Jackson films but also things like the two sequels to Avatar and others.

I have watched the Lord of The Rings trilogy so many times that i know it word for word!! Ha!
Thank you Mike for posting this thread and all the wonderful pictures. I truly want to visit New Zealand and see the incredible beauty of the land and see where the films were made!......Johnny :)