It looks like the second location (after Matamata's Hobbiton) has been leaked by the NZ Department of Conservation - Lake Wakatipu, according to the Otago Daily Times, who interviewed DOC's Wakatipu area manager Greg Lind.
However, Wingnut Films (Peter Jackson's company) is denying any such deal at this stage. Then again, they'd say that in either case, so asking them is like asking the CIA who killed JFK; the answer isn't necessarily going to sway anybody.
I've been trying to get hold of the folks looking after Rivendell (Kaitoke Regional Park, just north of Wellington) but so far they've not heard anything yet. Watch this space!
There is one thing that I've been more than a little curious about. So far, we know two things about the Hobbit movie. First, we know that the Hobbiton set is already being rebuilt in Matamata. Second, we know that the project hasn't had the greenlight from Hollywood yet. So, the question I have is this - who is paying for the refurbishment of Hobbiton - is PJ so assured of success that he's funding that himself? Questions like that leave me feeling very positive about the future!
For the full Otago Daily Times article, read here.
- Jack M.
I wouldn't put it past Wingnut to be putting out false leads, but Otago Southland is a Big Area, Bigger than some Nation States I could mention.
ReplyDeleteAnd is packed full of Amazing locations and let's face it, Queenstown is a fun town to shoot Big Money Movies from!
I don't know if PJ would be funding it himself just to get an early start... why would he care if it was delayed a couple months? I'd say that the refurbishing of the hobbit holes and whatever is going on over at the new site is probably an indication that the project is more solid than anyone is letting on. After all, they've had the scripts for a while now...
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