New Zealanders fete stars of Rings trilogy

NEW Zealand’s capital lived up to its ‘Wellywood’ nickname yesterday as thousands of fans lined streets to fete stars of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy ahead of the world premiere of the blockbuster final instalment.

The streets of Wellington were festooned with posters one of them eight storeys tall of characters from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Grandmothers in deck chairs, kids in character costumes and people clutching copies of JRR Tolkien's books were lined four-deep along streets that the movie's stars, such as Elijah Wood and Liv Tyler, were to walk along later today on their way to the premiere.

Fans from abroad have flocked to spots where the movies were filmed to gather the mood.

Director Jackson has already anointed the movie, Return of the King, as the best of the trilogy.

The film opens in the US on December 17, most of Western Europe the next day and in Asia from December 20 onward.

Police said up to 100,000 people, a quarter of this city's population, were expected to celebrate the last big event in more than five years of local production for the three movies.

The marathon production and the fact that Jackson is based here earned Wellington its Wellywood nickname.

New Zealanders also have taken the Rings films to their hearts because virtually all of the trilogy was shot in New Zealand, using the country's mountains, rivers and forests as backdrops.