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Friday marked the 20th anniversary of when the
first feature film of the J.R.R Tolkien's "The Lord of the
Rings" and "Hobbit" trilogies premiered at Odeon Leicester
Square in London on Dec. 10, 2001, bringing instant fame to New
Zealand's rolling hills, meadows and forests, which were the
backdrop for the mythical Middle-Earth.
Screenings were planned in cinemas in Auckland and Wellington,
including an outdoor screening on Friday in Hobbiton, a sheep
and beef farm about 160 kilometers from Auckland, famous as "the
home of the Hobbits".
"This event was sold out quicker than any we have ever done,"
said Shayne Forrest, general manager of Hobbiton.
Fans coming to the screening have been preparing their costumes
for nearly 12 months, Forrest said, adding he expects to see
many dressed as Hobbits, the Dark Lord Suaron, Orcs and Gollums.
"We have a Sauron coming who has a full armour suit and a full
head dress, and he is not going to fit on our bus," Forrest
said.
New Zealand's tourism industry has been hurt over the last 20
months by border closures and pandemic restrictions. Hobbiton
received 650,000 tourists each year before the pandemic, but saw
just 90,000 visitors in the last 12 months. It cut its staff to
50 people from about 320.
The celebrations this week were an opportunity to put New
Zealand on the world stage again, Forrest said.
The hairy feet and pointed-ear Hobbits are set to hit the
screens again as Amazon Studios began filming of the “The Lord
of the Rings” series in New Zealand last year, a TV show widely
tipped to be the most expensive ever made.
But Amazon said the second season of the multimillion-dollar
television series will be filmed in the United Kingdom, moving
Middle-earth out of New Zealand for the first time.
The series' success helped New Zealand's film industry attract
some of the biggest Hollywood productions, including James
Cameron's "Avatar" and more recently Jane Campion's "The Power
of the Dog" and Netflix series such as "Sweet Tooth".
Many productions chose New Zealand last year because of the
country's COVID-19 free status.
But with the Delta outbreak this year, the industry, which is
worth around NZ$3.3 billion and employs about 15,000 New
Zealanders, has faced challenges.
"But we have a resilient industry," said David Strong, CEO of
New Zealand’s Film Commission.
"Next year we are opening up and international productions are
very keen to come back," he added.
(Editing by Gerry Doyle)
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