The Hobbit has been given the go ahead - but where is Jackson going to make it?

Image by Getty Images via @daylife 

The Hobbit has been given the go ahead - but where is Jackson going to make it?




After years of setbacks, The Hobbit has finally been greenlit with Peter Jackson set to direct.



The Lord of the Rings filmmaker will helm two installments. In a statement, Jackson said: "Exploring Tolkein's Middle-earth goes way beyong a normal filmmaking experience. It's an all-immersive journey into a very special place of imagination, beauty and drama."



Jackson takes over from Guillermo Del Toro, who was originally attached to direct the Hobbit films but pulled out earlier this year. The project was almost stalled by a dispute between the studio and an actors union.



The two movies will reportedly shoot back to back in 3D from February, and will be released in 2012.



Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy made almost $3 billion at the worldwide box office. The third chapter, Return of the King, won 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture.



If he doesn't make it in NZ he may as well stay where he makes it!

The Hobbit films under threat...

The Hobbit films under threat...

Hobbiton set is under construction in Matamata, but filming could still be moved offshore. Que sera sera!







Filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson and his wife Fran Walsh have made a special trip to the Beehive to discuss the problems which could see The Hobbit filmed overseas.



The pair met with Arts and Culture Minister Chris Finlayson and Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee, and the future of the country's film industry is on the line.



It has been 10 years since filming for The Lord of the Rings wrapped near Arrowtown – but it's still providing economic stimulus for the region.



Fans from all over the world still flock there like extras, but the Rings tour business is already being enviously eyed from overseas.



Melissa heath



“We saw the response to The Lord of the Rings, it was phenomenal for us as a small country,” says tour operator Melissa Heath. “If The Hobbit was to go offshore to some other exotic location, New Zealand will just slip into the background and be forgotten.”



Ms Heath says losing The Hobbit business would be a disaster, but that is what's being threatened.



“It's not a game right now, in America Warner Brothers studio's accountants are running the numbers on five to six different locations – that's very real,” says co-producer of The Hobbit Phillipa Boyens.



Film-making isn't normal government business, but it's an economic crisis – with the future of the billion-dollar film industry could be in jeopardy.



Ms Boyens says if problems can be worked through with actors' equity, filming could begin as soon as January – a deal the Government's trying to make happen.



“If we can't get to a point where we are competitive, there's no question those films could be made in other parts of the world,” Prime Minister John Key says.



“This is the industry where subsidies play an important role.”



The union that kicked up the fuss has now gone strangely silent, with an announcement expected later this week from Sir Peter Jackson on the future of The Hobbit.



KR says:  Don't try and turn this on the unions. Peter Jackson's greed has created this discontent and financial crisis. Jackson and his backers had a 15% tax right-off for previous films. He has become a millionaire through the NZ taxpayers as well as his film-making genius. Just remember that  Kiwi Russell Coutts was the best America's Cup sailor in the world before greed got the better of him too!



Acknowledgements: 3 News

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Helen Clark and Peter Jackson receive top New Year's honours...

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark has joined world famous film maker ( Lord of the Rings) Peter Jackson in topping the New Year honours, it was recently announced.

Miss Clark has received New Zealand's highest accolade, becoming a member of the Order of New Zealand, while Sir Peter is among five to become knights or dames. But, however, she will not become a Dame; under her administrations titles were abolished, and reinstated this year under the new National Government.

In all, 193 people have received honours, covering fields as diverse as music, speedway, education and horticultural science.

Miss Clark, prime minister for three terms, joins 16 others in membership of the Order of New Zealand, which is limited to 20 living Kiwis.

She is one of three former prime ministers on the list, and now heads the United Nations Development Programme in New York.

Miss Clark said she felt privileged to join the "incredible New Zealanders" in the order, and "certainly would not" have accepted a damehood. Her Labour government axed the titles in 2000.

She admitted to not being wholly surprised at the honour, although it perhaps came sooner than expected.

"I've spent a lot of years at the top, maybe sometime an approach would have been made ... It's not unusual, it's a question of timing."