It has been six years, two directors, numerous strikes and protests, not to mention a reported $500m in the making, but Peter Jackson's new fantasy trilogy based on JRR Tolkien's beloved 1937 novel The Hobbit will finally be shown to the public today with the premiere of debut movie An Unexpected Journey in Wellington, New Zealand.
The country's capital has been transformed into "the middle of Middle Earth", the fictional world created by Tolkien as a uniquely Anglo-Saxon mythological playground and populated by hobbits, dwarves, elves, dragons, trolls, goblins and wizards. Tens of thousands of fans dressed as all of the above and more are expected to line the 500-metre red carpet leading up to the Embassy theatre, where the likes of Martin Freeman (who plays hobbit Bilbo Baggins), Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett and Elijah Wood are expected to attend. Some have come from as far away as the US and Europe for the premiere.
New Zealand is hoping for a $400m boost to tourism from publicity surrounding the films, while studio Warner Bros will be hoping for a box office bonanza akin to the financial success of Jackson's previous Lord of the Rings trilogy, which took almost $3bn worldwide between 2001 and 2003.
The Hobbit is set 60 years prior to the events of the earlier triptych and was originally intended as two films, both of which were to be directed by Mexican film-maker Guillermo del Toro. But delays caused by financial woes at financial partner studio MGM led to the latter walking away, with Jackson eventually deciding to step up from producer to take them on. Then in August it was suddenly announced that The Hobbit would arrive in three parts, with An Unexpected Journey to be followed by The Desolation of Smaug in December 2013 and There and Back Again in July the following year. Some fans have wondered why a relatively breezy children's novel requires such extravagance, but Jackson himself has been adamant that the project – in the words of Tolkien himself – was "a tale that grew in the telling".
Production on The Hobbit has been stymied by a series of unfortunate events, including a fire that destroyed a number of vital miniatures, an enormous feud with a local New Zealand union that at one point looked likely to become a general actors' boycott of the project, and Jackson's own hospitalisation last year for surgery to treat a stomach ulcer. The films are being screened at many cinemas at 48 frames per second (fps), compared with the 24fps that has been the industry standard since the 20s, a brave move that was criticised in some quarters when preview footage was screened to industry figures in April.
Last month animal rights activists accused studios of responsibility for the deaths of more than 20 animals, including horses, pigs and chickens, during the making of the film. Jackson has admitted some animals used in the film died on the farm where they were being housed but says none was hurt during filming. Nevertheless, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) is threatening to protest at today's premiere.
Speaking at a press conference in Wellington prior to the premiere, Jackson said he hoped the controversies which have ushered in The Hobbit's arrival would not dampen people's enjoyment of the film's release. "At the end of the day we've made a movie we're extremely proud of," he said, adding that he hoped people would make the effort to see An Unexpected Journey in 48fps.
Jackson said his only real worry had been a point at which it appeared Freeman might not be able to star as Baggins, who embarks on a quest to wrest a magnificent horde of treasure from a wily dragon in the company of 13 dwarves and the wizard Gandalf.
"We never had anyone else in mind," said Jackson. "When we finally had the green light, Martin was tied up with the Sherlock TV show. That was one time I was very, very worried because if the casting of Bilbo was wrong, the films wouldn't work. Bilbo has to carry the heart of the film. He's a fantastic dramatic actor with a great sense of irony and the absurd.
"I was very, very down, and I thought we were in serious trouble because the film was approaching very fast. I had downloaded the first series of Sherlock from iTunes and was watching it on my iPad at about 4 o'clock in the morning, and watching Martin I thought there really is no better Bilbo in the world. He's got every quality that we want. I thought, when he needs to go back and shoot the second series we'll stop filming and make that work. It was a pretty radical thing to do but I'm incredibly pleased that we did it."
The films may prove a boon for New Zealand tourism, but they have also provided welcome employment for actors from closer to Tolkien's beloved Blighty. As well as Freeman and Serkis, the trilogy's cast includes such British and Irish luminaries as Spooks' Richard Armitage (as dwarf leader Thorin Oakenshield), Stephen Fry as the Master of Laketown, James Nesbitt as dwarf Bofur, Ian McKellen as wizard Gandalf, Christopher Lee as Saruman, Ian Holm as the elder Bilbo and Orlando Bloom as the returning Legolas. Billy Connolly stars as dwarf king Dain Ironfoot and Freeman's Sherlock co-star Benedict Cumberbatch voices both the Necromancer and the dragon Smaug, though the latter is not likely to turn up until the second movie.
