New Zealanders protest moving 'The Hobbit' to another country

Valerie Warrington
10/25/2010

Thousands of New Zealanders protest moving 'The Hobbit' to another country.

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - OCTOBER 25: Hobbit supporters hold up posters during the protest at Civic Square on October 25, 2010 in Wellington, New Zealand. Stakeholders of the film marched through Wellington to protest over the Hobbit films being filmed outside of New Zealand after an international union boycott by local actors demanding collective contracts. The New Zealand Actors Equity has been in negotiations with Warner Brothers as fears grow over future films being shot away from New Zealand, despite the Union do-not-work advice being dropped. (Photo by Marty Melville/Getty Images)

Thousands of New Zealanders took to the streets to demonstrate to Warner Bros. that they want Peter Jackson's Hobbit films to be shot in the country, despite controversy among acting unions, reports the BBC.

The New Zealanders went to the streets in six different rallies as Warner Bros. execs landed there today on their way to meet with the prime minister.

Acting unions threatened to boycott the films over wages, according to the Guardian. Although the issue has been resolved, Warner Bros. believes that the acting unions have given them a bad impression. According to a statement released by the studio, the unions' actions had "forced us to consider other filming locations for the first time."

Prime Minister John Key is meeting with Warner's execs on Tuesday and Wednesday regarding the film, and their decision will be announced later this week.

"I'd love to tell you it's a done deal, but we're a long way away from being a done deal," Key said. "There are a number of issues that we'd need to resolve."

Filming for the movie is set to begin next February.