NEW ZEALAND: About 100,000 ecstatic fans welcomed The Lord of the Rings film director Peter Jackson as their returning king to Wellington, New Zealand's capital, yesterday for the world premiere of the climax of the award-winning trilogy.
Like a victorious general at the front of his army, Jackson led stars from The Return of the King for five kilometres through central Wellington flanked by characters clad in armour and on black horses.
Filmed in New Zealand by home-grown director Jackson, the The Return of the King is a multi-layered tale of a hobbit, Frodo, and his bid to save the world by destroying a golden ring with magical powers.
JRR Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, invented the dwarf-like hobbits and a host of other creatures as part of an imaginary world he called Middle Earth.
Amid drifts of ticker tape, Jackson and cast members were besieged by crowds 10-deep as they made their way up the red carpet to the theatre.
The first two parts of the trilogy - The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers - are among the highest grossing movies in box office history. They have taken in a combined €1.5 billion.
The books, by the South Africa-born JRR Tolkien, have enjoyed a huge revival since the first two films were made.
The third book in the Rings trilogy, which was written mostly in the 1940s, was published in 1955.
Tipped to win an Oscar for best director at next year's awards, Jackson said honours did not concern him.
"I'm just going to let everybody else decide that," he said. "You can only do what you can do. You do the very best job you can. I don't think I have any regrets."
It was possible a prequel to the The Lord of the Rings, called The Hobbit, could be made in future - although the rights to the book had not yet been obtained, Jackson said.
Stars attending Monday's premier in Wellington included Liv Tyler, Sir Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen and Elijah Wood.
The Return of the Ring, goes on world-wide commercial release on December 18th.