The fight to keep Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit films in New Zealand is reaching its last legs after a flurry of legal activity and posturing today.
First the New Zealand Actors’ Equity lifted a blacklist that would have seemingly opened the door for New Zealand actors to work on the film. Not so according to a memo written by Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh that began, “The lifting of the blacklist on The Hobbit does nothing to help the films stay in New Zealand. The damage inflicted on our film industry by NZ Equity/MEAA is long since done.”
Jackson’s letter goes on to claim Warner Bros. is headed to New Zealand next week to begin preparations to move the entire Hobbit production elsewhere. The decision on whether to shoot The Hobbit in New Zealand, where Jackson filmed the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, is apparently in the studio’s hands. The New Zealand Actors’ Equity, meanwhile, continues to implore all actors unions to not boycott the film even after Jackson’s remarks.
Warner Bros. must weight their decision carefully on the anticipated $500 million production. Millions have already been spent on pre-production and sets in New Zealand, and surely moving all of that to another country or countries will not come cheap. There may be tax incentives but additional costs are unavoidable, not to mention the psychological damage to the crew that survives what’s sure to be a massive round of layoffs.
Everyone looking from the outside in has about had it with the issues getting The Hobbit films off the ground. We just want the damn things made and wish all the posturing and ego trips will give way to what’s best for the films.
