It all kicks off tomorrow with Wellington, New Zealand putting the finishing touches to it’s 500 metres of red carpet as we speak. By this time tomorrow it will be all over: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will have been seen by an exclusive crowd of invited guests (so who did you have to shag to get a ticket? I missed that memo!) and no doubt we commoners will be able to read the first critiques on the internet shortly after.
Back in 2003, Peter Jackson publicly cornered New Line Cinema into holding the world premiere of The Lord of the Rings:The Return of The King in the Embassy Theatre, Wellington. A charming but relatively small cinema (yes, I went there on my nerdy LOTR tour of NZ back in 2008), the venue must have proven itself to be adequate, as it will once again host an array of stars and VIPs for this first Hobbit flick.
Pre-carpet entertainment kicks off at 3pm (NZ time), with the filmmakers and stars scheduled for a 4:30pm arrival.
Said to be attending is:
- Peter Jackson – filmmaker
- Fran Walsh – filmmaker
- Philippa Boyens – filmmaker
- Martin Freeman – Bilbo Baggins
- Richard Armitage – Thorin Oakenshield
- Cate Blanchett – Elf Queen Galadriel
- Hugo Weaving – Elf Lord Elrond
- Andy Serkis – Gollum
- Elijah Wood – Frodo Baggins
- Barry Humphries – the Goblin King
- Sylvester McCoy – Radagast the Brown
Plus the company of Dwarfs (yes I have spelt it that way on purpose. Read the foreword to LOTR and discover this was Tolkein’s preferred way of spelling the plural of ‘dwarf’, similarly his plural for ‘elf’ was Elfs and not Elves – there’s a little useless fact for you!)
- Jed Brophy
- Adam Brown
- John Callen
- Mark Hadlow
- Peter Hambleton
- William Kircher
- Graham McTavish
- James Nesbitt
- Dean O’Gorman
- Aidan Turner
Ian McKellen, who is reprising his role of Gandalf is unable to attend but said in a statement: “It is thrilling that Peter and my wonderful other friends from the cast and crew will be reunited for the world premier of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I know they will have a wonderful welcome from the fans and I envy them. As ever, my heart is in Wellington, and I send my love” Awwwww; how sweet!
The premiere will be available for live streaming on various websites.
