The world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in Wellington, New Zealand is only days away! As the debut draws near, locals and visitors will see more and more of the commonplace sites being turned into tributes to the film.
The Embassy Theatre
The main event will take place on November 28 at the Embassy Theatre. To prepare for the special showing and celebrity attendees, the cinema added new projectors, speakers, carpet, and a curtain, and tested each individual seat. Just yesterday, to the awe of passers-by, a huge sculpture of Gandalf at Bilbo’s home, Bag End, was craned into place atop the entrance.
Wellington Airport
Last month, a giant Gollum was installed at the Wellington Airport main terminal and just this morning, Air New Zealand tweeted photos of their new baggage carousel, featuring a new take on Hobbiton’s most famous residence, Bag End.
New Zealand Post House
The huge silhouettes of Bilbo and his thirteen dwarven companions was installed just weeks ago at the New Zealand Post House. “We worked closely with Weta Workshop on this installation, which has been designed to withstand winds of up to 178km per hour (110mph),” said Simon Allison, New Zealand Post’s spokesperson.“The only sacrifice we had to make was not including an image of Gandalf – who, to keep things to scale, would have been over 12 metres (40 feet) tall if we’d included him in this travelling party.”
The display will remain in place until early 2013.
Wellington’s Waitangi Park
As part of the festivities, a Hobbit-inspired artisan market, featuring the work of 30 artists whose crafts enriched the films, will run from November 24 to November 28.
The free Hobbit Artisan Market will host prosthetic demonstrations, competitions, and Hobbit-themed New Zealand food. Stalls will run from 12 noon to 6pm daily, and from Sunday until Tuesday, each of the three films in The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy will play on a big screen in the market from 6-9pm.
The Council’s Events Portfolio Leader, Councillor John Morrison, said, “The market is definitely a family-focussed event with lots of free entertainment. Over the five days there’ll be prosthetics demonstrations like how to look like an Orc, competitions – including best-dressed Hobbit costume and apple bobbing – and, of course, on the day of the premiere, there’ll be a free live feed of red carpet activities for those who want a more spacious view of the action.”
Weta Workshop and Stansborough Limited will be among the vendors.
Hobbiton, Matamata
The set piece that turned into the must-see tourist attraction is the village of Hobbiton in Matamata, New Zealand. After the Lord of the Rings films, the set was stripped bare, but fans still flocked to the spot. When the set was re-dressed and rebuilt for The Hobbit films, it was announced that this time around, the set would remain just as it was for visitors from around the world to experience the magical setting. Capitalizing on their claim to fame, Matamata residents built a Hobbit-inspired i-Site Gatehouse.
Photo: Stuff.co.nz
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