Today Peter Jackson held a press conference at the Bag End building on the Hobbiton set in Waikato, New Zealand to announce that the world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be held in Willington, NZ in late November 2012. The news isn't really surprising considering how important New Zealand is to the films.The 11 minute press conference was held with NZ Prime Minister John Key as they discussed various topics. Both answered questions about labor changes that were made due to a small union actor boycott (less than 400 members) nearly derailed the film being made in the country. Jackson also talked about his support of the Memphis Three. Last, they confirmed that the Hobbiton set would remain a standing set open for tourists. Filming at the set is scheduled to be completed next week. The movies are currently filming, with location filming around New Zealand for the next five weeks before filming takes a Christmas holiday break to resume next January.
The full video of the press conference can be found here. More images of the Hobbiton set can be found here.