“Long before director Peter Jackson selected his home country as the filming location for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogy, New Zealand was known for its raw wild beauty,” writes Debbie…
Silicon Valley tech pioneer, Donald Trump advocate, and newish New Zealander Peter Thiel has generated international headlines for the revelation that he was granted New Zealand citizenship in 2011. Thiel first visited New Zealand…
“To celebrate 15 years as the real Middle-earth, Tourism New Zealand has come up with a unique way for tourists to explore the country – re-imagining New Zealand experiences through the eyes of Middle-earth’s…
In Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth is “composed of dozens of incredible locations around New Zealand,” and “the natural beauty of New Zealand’s lush countryside and icy blue…
Dave Comer, who selected many of the spectacular New Zealand locations for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies for director Peter Jackson, has died aged 58. Comer started out as a still…
For the January issue of Empire, devoted entirely to bidding “Farewell to Middle-earth,” Peter Jackson and the crew of the 1987 splatter classic, Bad Taste are reunited “to reminiscence about the crazy shoot.” “That year,…
Upon its release in Britain, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was met with great enthusiasm, with UK newspapers agreeing the New Zealand director has completed his trilogy with verve. “Jackson’s…
Air New Zealand has been judged by Business Insider as having the “coolest airline paint job in the world”, ranked first out of 15 international airlines with striking exterior designs. “As airlines and…
“Long before Peter Jackson re-created Middle-earth in the fertile hills of New Zealand’s Waikato region, Graham Hannah and his young daughter Jessie had a dream,” Rob McFarland writes for the Sydney Morning Herald. “They would…
Pittsburgh locals ask Neil Newton about two things when they learn he is from New Zealand: The Lord of the Rings and HBO’s Flight of the Conchords, two things that he has nothing to…
In this episode, the couple visit the Hobbiton Movie Set Tour, just outside of Matamata, North Island, New Zealand. Living a Kiwi Life is a series of youtube videos…
“It’s dinner and a movie … set” reports Ashley Winchester of the New York Times, who describes the Lord of the Rings guided tour as “straight out of Middle Earth”. The Hobbiton Movie Set in…
New Zealand’s “veritable buffet of landscapes … each one painted with a unique palate of colour” provided the perfect setting for Huffington Post travel writer Charli Moore’s “freedom escape”. “Having just completed an epic 18-month…
If you are looking for an alternative, and beautiful, route to travel New Zealand, News.com.au recommends 10 “different dream trips … to get you from landmark to landmark.” “More of a dream trip than any…
An Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300 that the Weta Workshop team in Wellington have fitted with a 54-metre long image of Smaug the dragon from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was unveiled yesterday…
“Middle-earth is closer than you think”. Air New Zealand creates another fantastic ad revealing that New Zealand has all sorts of surprises, and before you know it, everything can…
“From James Cameron’s organic farm to Emmy contender Top of the Lake, the idyllic island nation continues to thrive 12 years after Frodo and Co. put it on the movie location map,” The Hollywood…
New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson has given his fans a sneak online preview of the next Hobbit installment, The Desolation of Smaug. Enthusiastic and barefoot, Jackson gave a little masterclass in Middle-earth filmmaking and…
Take a journey through Middle-earth with the cast of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
One hundred thousand Hobbit fans descended on Wellington’s Courtenay Place to catch a glimpse of their favourite Tolkien character strutting the 500m-long red carpet ahead of the world premiere first installment of the trilogy,…
The country’s national tourism slogan “100% Pure New Zealand” has become “100% Middle-earth”, and in the days leading up to the premiere of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Wellington will be…
“Middle-earth may be mythical, but so too is New Zealand,” Mark Johanson writes for International Business Traveler. “The only difference is you can visit the latter. It’s a place where glaciers carve paths through…
An advertisement in Wellington’s Dominion Post has called for diminutive actors to audition for the parts of Middle Earth hobbits in Peter Jackson’s prequel to the Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy. Roles for…
A study of Peter Jackson’s LotR trilogy by the University of Wales has been extended due to an unexpectedly large public response. More than 25,000 people from all over the world have completed the…
The Times ran a lengthy travel feature on “the real Middle Earth” to mark the opening of the LotR exhibition at London’s Science Museum. “Never mind whether Frodo manages to destroy that ring we’ve all…
Confused travellers the world over are trying to book holidays to Middle Earth’s fictional locations. According to popular internet site Yahoo Travel, Rivendell and Mordor are frequently entered as search commands. Yahoo Travel’s Morgan Williams: “Personally I’d…
“The real Middle Earth” features in the annual BBC round-up of new additions to the media lexicon. The official definition: “The country formerly known as New Zealand. An NZ government minister has been appointed unofficial ‘minister for…
An Air NZ Boeing 747 has become the latest (and largest) Lord of the Rings billboard. The plane sports a 36m image of the hobbit leads down either side of its fuselage. The advertising is part…
Liv Tyler talks to The Scotsman about making movies Middle Earth-style. “It was a labour of love for everyone. There weren’t a lot of perks. We didn’t have these huge trailers and all these excessive…
It is official: NZ is the most popular long-haul destination for Britons. From January to June, a record 228,000 British travelers visited – 8.9% more than in 2001. The Guardian puts the increase down…
“, for all its knockout grandeur, is but the trailer, the preview of the country. NZ doesn’t need to be digitally enhanced. It has an orchestra replete with special effects all of its own.” Headlining feature on…
Following in the tradition of cine-tourism success prompted by such films as A Passage to India, Out of Africa, and Crocodile Dundee, New Zealand is enjoying its busiest ever summer tourism season, due in part…
The Southern Alps. The Tongariro volcanoes. The Fiordland rain forest. “There is something archetypal about the scenery here, as though someone copied the planet’s most distinctive landscapes and jammed them all on two islands….New Zealand is the…
“I just want to stay in NZ making my stuff.” PJ interviewed by PBS’s Charlie Rose. Listen to the interview here for a fascinating conversation as Peter Jackson talks candid camera for an…
“The first thing I thought when Peter showed me the pictures of the locations in New Zealand was: this is Middle-earth,” says Elijah Woods. “I mean, it has every sort of geographical, geological formation…
It’s awesome,” enthuses Middle Earth’s biggest small man, Elijah Wood about upcoming Lord of the Rings. “It’s a really, really incredible group of people and a very brilliant, talented group of artists who…
“I’m so excited to be doing all three movies,” says Blanchett. “It’s thrilling. I wanted this project so badly. We’re talking Peter Jackson. And Tolkien – my God! That man, Tolkien, created a whole…
“If the budget on Lord of the Rings is sky-high, so are expectations surrounding the films. Fans of Tolkien’s 1,000-page trilogy about hobbits and elves in the fantasy land called Middle Earth are truly…
In the The Grey Book, acclaimed actor Sir Ian McKellen’s diary of the Lord of the Rings film shoot, McKellen raves about the scenery: “New Zealand would amaze and enrapture anyone who responds to the wild landscapes of…
Hobbits boost the local carpentry trade: “They haven’t begun construction of a new Hollywood sign yet on the steep hills that encircle New Zealand`s capital city of Wellington, but it would not be surprising…
Literary fans who are devoted to the purity of Tolkien’s Middle Earth ouevre are angry at rumours that Frodo Baggins is ready to flirt. The introduction of glamorous Hollywood stars such as Liv Tyler…
Sir Ian McKellen takes a break on Auckland Harbour from playing the wise wizard Gandalf in the 16 month long shoot of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. He is immersing himself in the…
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