Labor peace comes to ‘The Hobbit’
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‘The Hobbit’ is back on track.
After a rancorous few days of posturing that threatened the New Zealand location -- and possibly the release dates -- of the two ‘Hobbit’ movies, there is labor peace for the fantasy epic.
As my colleague Richard Verrier reports on our sister blog Company Town, the Screen Actors Guild is lifting its do-not-work order for performers on the two films, clearing the last major obstacle in shooting the movies. Production will now move forward in New Zealand for the films’ releases in December 2012 and December 2013.
Director Peter Jackson has been especially biting in his comments in recent days, saying that he wanted to move the production. But a meeting between producers, the actors’ guilds and even the government proved fruitful, with the sides this afternoon issuing a statement that ‘The parties have agreed to work together to update the conditions of engagement for performers in the New Zealand screen production industry.’
-- Steven Zeitchik
