Hobbit’s arrival set

The world premiere of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has been announced for November 28 in Wellington.

The city’s mayor Celia WadeBrown said the event would be an opportunity for Wellington’s creativity, talent and industry to be showcased globally.

‘‘Thousands of fans from all over the world, alongside a huge media contingent, will be in Wellington for The Hobbit premiere and we’ll show them all that our compact, cosmopolitan capital has to offer. This is a great chance for the city to shine around the world.’’

The Wellington City Council has included a budget of $1.15 million in its draft Long Term Plan, to be funded from the Downtown Levy (a targeted rate paid by commercial ratepayers in central Wellington), to support the event.

The LTP is undergoing public consultation and will be signed off at the end of June. The premiere funding has received strong support from submitters.

‘‘The public supports council’s investment in helping stage The Hobbit premiere because they understand there’s a significant return on investment,’’ said events portfolio leader John Morrison.

‘‘Fifteen years ago, if you’d said Wellington would be hosting world premieres for Hollywood blockbusters they’d lock you up. I’m confident that this year’s celebration will surpass 2003’s The Return of the King premiere when 100,000 people came out to party, and our team is already planning an event on that scale.’’

The venue for the premiere has yet to be determined but the Embassy Theatre would be highly favoured.