A sneak peek at Air NZ’s new Hobbit safety video

8 August 2014

A sneak peek at Air NZ’s new Hobbit safety video

Air New Zealand, the official airline of Middle-earth, is giving fans a sneak peek at its next inflight safety video, an epic tale which will conclude the airline’s highly successful three year association with The Hobbit Trilogy.

The video will celebrate the third and final film in The Hobbit Trilogy - The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and the airline’s partnership with the film franchise and feature cameo appearances from director Sir Peter Jackson, Weta Workshop co-founder Sir Richard Taylor and cast members of the films.

The yet to be titled safety video was shooting this week amidst dramatic Central Otago, New Zealand scenery under the direction of Taika Waititi of Boy and What we do in the Shadows fame. Taika Waititi will also make a special cameo appearance as ‘The Wizard’.

Air New Zealand Chief Marketing and Customer Officer Mike Tod says the video will be a real celebration of Middle-earth and all that it has to offer.

“Air New Zealand has been the official airline of Middle-earth for more than a decade now and we want to mark the final film in The Hobbit Trilogy in a very special way. This video brings together iconic New Zealand film locations with some of the famous faces and Taika Waititi’s signature directing style. We can’t wait to unveil it on board later this year,” says Mr Tod.

Air New Zealand has invested several million dollars into global marketing campaigns and initiatives to celebrate the Hobbit films and attract visitors to New Zealand including branding two Boeing 777-300 long haul aircraft with Hobbit imagery.

The airline’s latest safety video follows on from the highly successful An Unexpected Briefing released in 2012 which has become a global hit, with more than 12 million views online.

The new safety video is expected to be rolled out across the airline’s fleet from late October.

About The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies:
Directed by Peter Jackson, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies features a screenplay by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Jackson also produced the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Philippa Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers. Production took place at Jackson’s own facilities in Miramar, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand. Post production took place at Park Road Post Production in Wellington.

New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Present a Wingnut Films Production, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. As with the first two films in the Trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the final film is a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), with New Line managing production. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television distribution being handled by MGM.

About Star Alliance:
Air New Zealand is proud to be a member of Star Alliance. The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI and United. The integration of Avianca Brasil is currently in progress. Overall, the Star Alliance network currently offers more than 18,500 daily flights to 1,316 airports in 192 countries.

For more information about Air New Zealand visit www.airnewzealand.com and for more information about Star Alliance visit www.staralliance.com

ENDS

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