(L to R) William Kircher (Bifur), Graham McTavish (Dwalin), Martin Freeman (Bilbo Baggins), James Nesbitt (Bofur) and John Callen (Oin)
Things are gearing up in Wellington for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey world premiere, with crowds greater than the 120,000 who turned out for The Return of the King hoped for.
Details of a week of celebration have been revealed by Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown reports the Dominion Post .
Big screens will be erected in Waitangi Park from which people will be able to view live feed from the premiere’s red-carpet. And in the week beforehand, free screenings of The Lord of the Rings trilogy will be shown there.
A Hobbit-inspired artisan market will be held in Waitangi Park in the days around the premiere, with the crafts of some people who worked on The Hobbit on show.
The Mayor and Sir Peter Jackson’s spokesman, Matt Dravitzki, were at the Embassy Theatre to launch a countdown clock to the premiere on the facade of the Embassy, showing 51 days to go.
The Mayor also unveiled a ”The Middle of Middle-earth” logo, designed by Hobbit cartographer and calligrapher Daniel Reeve.
Wellington Airport will change its motto from ”wild at heart” to ‘The Middle of Middle-earth” for the period around the premiere with Weta Workshop designing a Hobbit-inspired installation for the airport.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey world premiere is in Wellington on 28 November 2012.
