Is “The Hobbit” turning into Peter Jackson’s version of “The Man Who Killed Don Quioxote?”
It may be.
Since the two films adapting the prelude to the “Lord of the Rings” saga were announced, we’ve seen financial struggles at MGM and the departure of Guillermo del Toro as director. Rumors continue to fly that Jackson is directing the film (nothing is confirmed) and that he’s secretly auditioning actors for various roles. There’s also the problem of certain actors (such as Ian McKellan) losing patience waiting for production to begin and possibly moving on from the project and the iconic roles.
Now, the film may be facing another threat to it–a proposed strike the Screen Actors Guild. The guild is urging its members not to take parts in the non-union production. According to Vulture, the film’s backers have rebuffed efforts by a New Zealand actors union to organize fair deals for the production.
Jackson fired back over the weekend to the claims and the call, saying he is not against unions and calling this demand “a grab for power.” The director also says that production could move from New Zealand to Eastern Europe should the union follow through with its threats.
“There is a twisted logic to seeing NZ humiliated on the world stage, by losing the Hobbit to Eastern Europe. Warners would take a financial hit that would cause other studios to steer clear of New Zealand… Seriously, if the Hobbit goes east (Eastern Europe in fact) — look forward to a long dry big budget movie drought in this country,” Jackson said in a statement.
The problem is, this Australian union has not filed a union report in new Zealand for 3 years. By nz law (because of this) the union is considered Australian and not new Zealand (and has no legal standing) - it is actually against the nz law to deal with them.