Martin Freeman’s recent casting as Bilbo Baggins has been the lone bright spot in the rather troubled preproduction of The Hobbit. However said casting news does little to lessen the very real and troubling battle between Warner Brothers and The Australian Media, Entertainment and Art’s Alliance - previously covered here and here. The dispute puts The Hobbit production at a standstill and would most likely result in the production moving away from New Zealand, home of The Lord of The Rings films.
Warner Brothers executives are visiting New Zealand this Monday, October 25th to presumably make a final decision on whether or not the film can be shot there. Rallies are beginning to be held In New Zealand urging for an end to the union dispute. To help raise awareness, Hunter Abbey has created a video mixing real footage with lines of dialogue from Lord of the Rings. It's a pretty awesome edit and definitely worth checking out. Hopefully these problems can be worked out because everyone around the world associates New Zealand with Lord of the Rings. It would be shame to move production to another country due to a few people causing problems. Hit the link to see the video.
Thanks to Collider reader Robert for the heads up.
-
