After flirting with the idea of filming the Hobbit movies outside New Zealand, Warner Bros has finally decided to keep the Lord of the Rings saga in New Zealand.

The move to relocate Middle Earth went so far that even the New Zealand Prime Minister got involved. The problems started when acting unions threatened to boycott the production after they claimed that Peter Jackson and co. were severely underpaying the actors they used.

Anyway, Prime Minister John Key was pretty happy the problems have now been resolved and that The Hobbit movies will be filmed in his country…

“I am delighted we have achieved this result. Making the two Hobbit movies here will not only safeguard work for thousands of New Zealanders, but it will also follow the success of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy in once again promoting New Zealand on the world stage. The industrial issues that have arisen in the past several weeks have highlighted a significant set of concerns for the way in which the international film industry operates. We will be moving to ensure that New Zealand law in this area is settled to give film producers like Warner Brothers the confidence they need to produce their movies in New Zealand. It’s good to have the uncertainty over, and to have everyone now full steam ahead on this project.”

Photo courtesy of spin1038.com

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