Oct 26 2010 12:14 PM ET

New Zealand prime minister still wants 'The Hobbit' filmed in country

Filed under: Movies, News and tagged: ,

Warner Bros. execs flew to New Zealand over the weekend to talk economic concessions with the Kiwi government in a last-ditch negotiation to keep the two-picture Hobbit production from moving to another country. According to the Wall Street Journal, the New Zealand prime minister John Key is still open to some concessions to keep the $500 million production from leaving, but is not in a position to match bid from other nations. ”We have made it quite clear we can’t bridge the gap that’s on the table economically from other countries. It is simply too large,” Key told journalists Tuesday after a two-hour meeting with Warner Bros. representatives.

Comments (13 total) Add your comment
  • Larry David

    Who cares, it wasn’t going to be as good as Jackass 3D anyways.

    • Thom

      Your whole shtick is stupid. Please stop.

      • Genie

        I don’t know, I think it’s kind of funny what Larry David is doing. The content of his posts is I believe intentionally irrelevant. It’s supposed to be silly and rile other posters up and it’s working, that’s funny.

      • Thom

        It’s not funny. It’s just irritating. He should just have a blog if he wants to inhabit a character. As it stands, he’s not funny enough. If he writes better jokes, that are apparent and witty, then I’m all for it.

    • M

      I’m trying trying to remember when I used to read articles on EW and NOT see one of your inane comments, “Larry David”… ahh, those were the days.

      • Thom

        Yeah, about two months ago.

  • Brian

    Torn… Filming in NZ would be great, and would obviously be easier for Jackson and co. sincer all their sets and the WETA Workshop are there, but a new backdrop might actually be a good thing, and almostall of the Hobbit takes place in different settings than LOTR. Basically, nerd alert.

  • whatevs

    I think Bret and Jemaine should write a song about Warner Bros.

  • Yelhsa

    They should have Murray from Flight of the Conchords be a liason in the deal. :)

  • James

    I swear this film is cursed. The director snafu, script problems, casting hold-ups, New Line going broke, now issues with union contracts.
    I’m afraid to see it in cinemas. The building might collapse.

    • Juan

      I think you meant MGM being bankrupt, but I could be wrong. Still, I begin to fear the sentiment though I’d rather see an attempt at the movie than it not even made.

    • AB

      just wait til the casting starts having problems… or the movie flops. :( As they said in the LOTR, the world has moved on.

  • Rush

    They should film this in Chile. The Andes would be a great double as the Misty Mountains and the miners would make great dwarves!

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