Tuesday 18 April 2006
Lord Of The Rings Exhibition Exceeds Expectations On Opening Weekend
The opening weekend for the return of The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy - The Exhibition has exceeded visitor
targets and surpassed the opening days of the exhibition in 2002. Since opening to the public on Good Friday, the
exhibition has already achieved nearly 11,000 visitors, which is 2000 more visitors compared with the first five days of
the original season in 2002.
“We are delighted with the numbers so far,” said Mr Paul Brewer, Director Marketing and Communications.
“There continues to be a fascination with the film trilogy. The vision of Peter Jackson, and the creative talents of the
many behind-the-scenes people – from model makers Weta Workshop to Ngila Dickson’s costume designs – it has all been so
beautifully crafted together to create an entirely holistic Middle-earth. The behind the scenes stories of the
extraordinary technology and special effects are also a popular part of the exhibition and one of the reasons it has
been in demand from science museums world wide. It helps to make science and innovation in a broad sense popular with
large audiences. Te Papa is very pleased to be able to show New Zealand this exhibition for one last time,“ Mr Brewer
said.
The exhibition first opened at Te Papa in December 2002 attracting 220,000 visitors (New Zealand’s most successful
exhibition to date), and since then seen by over a million people worldwide. The exhibition has been significantly
refreshed for this final New Zealand showing to include impressive new items from the film trilogy. These include the
impressive and large scale 3.5 metre high ‘miniature’ of the great fortified city Minas Tirith and Corsair’s boat on
display for the first time, preliminary sculptures of Gollum’s facial expressions used to develop his character. Other
additions include Aragorn’s coronation crown, Arwen's coronation crown and dress, and Gandalf the White’s robes
This second season of The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy - The Exhibition at Te Papa has been made possible
though the support of New Line Cinema, Peter Jackson, and principal sponsor Air New Zealand.
ENDS