Kiwi News Roundup From The Embassy
Demosthenes @ 4:00 am EST

Well, New Zealand's media was out in force at the Wellington premiere of The Two Towers at the Embassy Theatre.

The unveiling of the menacing Gollum was one of the highlights. All I had was the Middle Earth Cam video feed, and I thought it looked quite spectacular!

As Ringer Fan Richard first reported, the other was confirmation of the persistent rumour that the world premiere for Return of the King would be in Wellington next year.

Before an audience of thousands of (undoubtedly parochial) onlookers, Jackson made New Line Executive Mark Ordesky promise that the debut for RoTK would be in Wellington.

Very cool stuff. And nice for all the antipodeans to finally get a piece of the action. :)

Also, Ringer Fan Telkemeniel reports that all the announced cast were there: Billy Boyd, Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan, Peter Jackson & Richard Taylor, Lawrence Makaore, Karl Urban. The latter two stayed with the crowd for a long time!

As I mentioned, the Kiwi media was there in force, here's a roundup of stories (and pictures) from them:

NZoom -- [More]

The NZ Herald -- [More]

Stuff.co.nz (check out Gollum looming over Embassy theatregoers!) -- [More]

Scoop.co.nz (great shot of the red carpet ... and the banners!) -- [More]

And just a reminder from Ringer Fan Willomere: An exhibition of the WETA workshop wonders seen in FOTR and TTT will be on display at the Te Papa in Wellington. A wealth of items including backdrops, costumes, weapons, and models -- not the least of which is Saruman's tower Orthanc -- will be on view from December 19, 2002 through February 28, 2003. [More]