stars jet into new zealand for hobbit premiere
THIS is the sight that greets visitors to New Zealand as the country goes Hobbit-crazy on the eve of the film's premiere.
A giant Gollum sculpture reaching for a massive fish hung from the roof of Wellington airport on the day the stars and director of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey touched down in the city.
Director Peter Jackson was joined by Bilbo actor Martin Freeman and his co-stars including Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis and James Nesbitt as they posed on arrival.
Special delivery ... plane arrives with stars on board
They were jetted in for tomorrow's premiere in the country's capital on a special Air New Zealand jet sprayed with images from the first film.
Cast and crew ... actors and director today
Rex Features
And even ground crew got in on the fun — wearing tongue-in-cheek high-vis vests bearing the words elf & safety.
Meanwhile, a sculpture of Ian McKellen's character Gandalf was on display at the Weta Cave museum in Wellington.
And a huge format of the sorcerer and Bilbo graced a giant billboard in the city.
Last-minute preparations were under way today as 100,000 people were expected to line the streets for the trilogy's launch.
As Hobbit fever swept through Wellington, Bilbo star Freeman admitted it was the biggest role of his career.
He said: "This is proper, epic filmmaking. I don't know any actors, apart from those who worked on The Lord of the Rings, who've made a film that's this big or taken this long."
The three films were shot back-to-back with an estimated budget of £311million and show Bilbo's quest to reclaim the lost dwarf kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug.
Tongue-in-cheek ... elf & safety staff greet actors
But getting the story on the big screen was not without problems. Its first director, Mexican Guillermo del Toro quit in 2010 over legal wrangling between studios.
LOTR director Jackson took over but a union dispute threatened to move production away from New Zealand until the government changed labour laws.
Massive joy ... giant billboard shows New Zealand can't wait for the film to be launched
Jackson was then struck down by ill health and producers recently had to deny claims of animal cruelty as well as fight Hobbit writer Tolkien's heirs over marketing rights.
The first Hobbit movie will be released globally in December. The second, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, is due in December 2013 and the final Chapter, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, follows in July 2014.
Hard stare ... sculpture of Gandalf
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