Xenite.Org News

Jackson's Lord of the Rings may already be bringing Hollywood to Queenstown - Lord of the Rings news - J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

August 02, 2000 at 01:15:53

Nearly 18 months remain before the first of Peter Jackson's planned three films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' is to be released. But already other film companies are looking at New Zealand and Queenstown in particular for new projects, according to The Otago Daily Times.

Queenstown Winter Marketing Group chairwoman Vicki Bretherton revealed that a Seattle production company and a New York production company have expressed interest in Queenstown for filming locations.

The New York production company is looking at "something 'more substantial'" than just filming a feature-length film. Pacific Renaissance Pictures has already established a niche in New Zealand with its syndicated action/adventure shows Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, and the oddly paired half-hour series Jack of All Trades and Cleopatra 2525.

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys helped to launch a revolution in syndicated television programming by proving that high-quality television could be produced on lower budgets outside the United States. Numerous action/adventure shows have been launched since the original five 90-minute Action Pack Hercules movies debuted in 1993, and shows are now routinely filmed in Canada, Australia, and other parts of the world for international distribution.

Hercules is no longer in production but Kevin Sorbo is already hard at work on Andromeda, a science fiction action/adventure series being filmed in Canada.

Following in Pacific Renaissance' footsteps, and overshadowing the Sam Raimi/Rob Tapert production company, Peter Jackson's three-film production of "The Lord of the Rings" has helped to propel the New Zealand film-making industry into the forefront of world film industry gossip. Many top stars vied for roles in the "Lord of the Rings" films, and staff and technical crew have been recruited from around the world.

"Lord of the Rings has created an awareness about our country and our region more than anything else has before," the Otago Daily Times reports Ms. Bretherton saying. She feels that "The Lord of the Rings" will be directly responsible for bringing additional film (and possibly television) projects to the small Pacfic nation.

Fans of the Hercules and Xena shows have long admired the beauty of New Zealand's landscapes, although the shows have been filmed mostly on a 70-acre tract of land near Auckland, New Zealand. Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" production has used locations all over the country, and will showcase far more of the nation's natural resources than any film or television project with international distribution ever produced so far.