The Hobbit Shall Not Pass… Out of New Zealand After All

?

From the New York Times:

Warner Brothers agreed to keep Peter Jackson’s
production of “The Hobbit” in New Zealand after the government
promised to change local labor laws and offered extra financial
incentives, Prime Minister John Key said Wednesday.

The deal came after two days of talks between Mr. Key and other
government officials and executives from Warner and its New Line Cinema
unit….

As part of the deal to keep production of the “The Hobbit” in New
Zealand, the government will introduce new legislation on Thursday to
clarify the difference between an employee and a contractor, Mr. Key
said during a news conference in Wellington, adding that the change
would affect only the film industry.

In addition, Mr. Key said the country would offset $10 million of
Warner’s marketing costs as the government agreed to a joint venture
with the studio to promote New Zealand “on the world stage.”

He also announced an additional tax rebate for the films, saying Warner
Brothers would be eligible for as much as $7.5 million extra per
picture, depending on the success of the films. New Zealand already
offers a 15 percent rebate on money spent on the production of major
movies..

So The Hobbit has a cast, the union problems are over, it won’t need to start all of its pre-production work over, and basically everything I said would keep The Hobbit from being made when it was first greenlit has been solved. And there’s still plenty of time before the February 2011 filming date. Or is it… TOO MUCH TIME?! No? Fine. Whatever. I don’t even like The Hobbit. I never even liked The Hobbit. The Hobbit‘s stupid, and so’s your face.