Welcome back to the middle of Middle Earth.
These are live pictures from Wellington's CBD
where thousands of people have swamped the city.
Sir Peter Jackson is expected on the red carpet in about 20 minutes,
and the film's screening will start shortly after 7pm.
Waihoroi Shortland is here in studio with me now...
What do you say to the critics
who claim there is nothing in The Hobbit for Maori?
They are probably the type of people
who complain and wait for blessings
to be showered upon them from above.
That's that.
Now, if we take a look at the situation,
the benefits for us might not be seen today,
but they will come through in time.
Opportunities are expected to open for those of the younger generation
who have entered into the film industry,
from directors to set builders,
those people who work in front of and behind the cameras.
That's where Maori will reap the rewards from.
Besides that, we need to do our own stories.
That's the answer to those critics
and the biggest question to them would be whether
they would agree for their stories to be told in English
to appeal to a wider audience.
That is perhaps the crux of it for Maori in the industry
if we want to be at the top level.
Right, we'll be back again with you Waihoroi...
Our reporter Raiha Johns
went on her own journey in search of answers...
She takes a look at how Maori will benefit from The Hobbit.
Since Peter Jackson's movies began production,
they've been economically beneficial to NZ.
There are those who say
that it has also been beneficial to Maori.
She also hopes that local iwi of the places
where scenes were filmed will benefit as well.
There is a Maori tourism company
who benefits from The Hobbit.
Time Unlimited has been operating a Hobbiton tour for six months.
The tour fee is between $300 to $500.
From Auckland to Tainui,
we tell them about Tainui history
and then we get to Hobbiton where we talk about that too.
So what other benefits are there for Time Unlimited?
We've seen the increase in tourists since the hype of The Hobbit.
The benefits are better than nothing.
Raiha Johns, Te Karere.