Warner Bros., New Line and all the other financial players involved in The Hobbit are yet to receive the green light for the movie, but somehow there is already another hurdle this troubled production must jump over in order to begin filming. The Screen Actors Guild is urging actors to boycott the upcoming production as part of an international effort being organised by New Zealand’s Actor’s Equity and its umbrella company, the Australian Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), to force the production into a contract for its actors. Meaning a future where Ian McKellan doesn't reprise his role as Gandalf could become real.
Peter Jackson, the film’s producer and expected director is angered by the labor groups. Jackson has invested millions of dollars into his home country’s economy by locating his previous epic adventures such as Lord of the Rings and King Kong in the country, as well as his studio WETA. He issued a scathing statement to the New Zealand press calling the MEAA “an Australian bully boy” with an agenda based solely on “money and power.” Jackson threatens that the production could move to Eastern Europe if the proposed boycott is not called off. He warns that these business practices could lead to a “long, dry big-budget movie drought in this country".
No comments:
Post a Comment