Stars run Rings around Santa

By RUSSELL BAILLIE and PAULA OLIVER

Move over Santa parade. You have been replaced by the openings of The Lord of the Rings movies, in Wellington at least.

The two annual events are kind of similar: they come at the end of the year, they feature hordes of screaming kids, and at the end a jolly bearded man arrives wearing the same thing he does every year.

Yes, director Peter Jackson was wearing his usual purple shirt at last night's New Zealand premiere of The Two Towers.

And he did play Santa - a gift of the world premiere of the third film, The Return of the King, in the capital next year.

Speaking to thousands in Wellington's Courtenay Place, the director extracted a promise from New Line Cinema's Mark Ordesky that the final of the trilogy would take its bow in Jackson's hometown.

Earlier, on the red carpet outside the Embassy Theatre, Jackson told the Herald: "It's the plan. New Line have agreed in principle, so I'm going to make sure they stick to their agreement. This country deserves to have a world premiere, and it would be appropriate with the last film."

Jackson and stars Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd and New Zealand actor Karl Urban caused another outbreak of Hobbitmania, as fervent fans threatened to burst through barrier fences.

They and other invited celebrities, including sports stars Jonah Lomu, Dean Barker and Mandy Smith, spent an hour signing autographs along the red carpet before finally making it to the Embassy front door.

Above them, a giant model of the creature Gollum, built by the Weta Workshop, snaked over the theatre roof, making him the world's biggest and ugliest gargoyle.

"It's so cool. It's sooooooo cool," gushed the effervescent Wood, who arrived hanging out the window of a car, as did fellow hobbits Monaghan and Boyd.

"It's great. Not every town's got a Gollum," said Monaghan.

The stars all attended the earlier premieres in New York, Paris and Los Angeles, but not surprisingly rated Wellington as the most special.

Fans had been taking up positions since early yesterday morning, complete with signs expressing their admiration for actor and director alike.

"Put the ring on my finger, Frodo," called one; others were more suggestive of their ardour for the actor.

The fans happily suffered through a cold night on Courtenay Place.

But any cloud over the event caused by Jackson publicly taking on the New Zealand Film Commission - he uninvited two commission members after a spat over Kahukura Productions' debts - was nowhere to be seen.

"This is about the film and the people who work on it. It's their night," Jackson said.

Prime Minister Helen Clark laughed and suggested that most people were oblivious to the commission controversy.

After the screening, guests headed to a party at Te Papa for a preview of the Lord of the Rings exhibition, which opens this week.

Herald feature: Lord of the Rings