'Hobbit' film location under threat over union wrangle

New Zealand may lose the filming of 'The Hobbit' movies, with financial backers Warner Brothers making arrangements to shift the production offshore, director Peter Jackson warned today.

Jackson’s production company, Wingnut Films, and the union Actors’ Equity have been at loggerheads over pay deals for actors in the US$500m two-film prequel to the highly successful 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy.