LOTR – The Return Of The King, World Premiere – Wellington, NZ

New Line Cinema approached Chameleon Event Management to act as the official management company for this massive event due to be held in Wellington on Dec 1st 2003.

The World Premiere for the final film of the trilogy was a celebration of the success of all three movies, totaling nine years of work. The premiere was but one day in a week’s long visit by the many cast and crew, with multiple activities and constant requirements from the visiting guests, culminating in the largest film premiere ever.

Chameleon’s experience and and logistic skills were utilised to their fullest to bring this large, multi-agency event together.

The premiere boasted the world’s longest red carpet ever at over 421m, had 2000 premiere screening guests and 2500 after-party guests.

Over 2000 crew were issued photo id passes, and 2500 bags of popcorn, 12 tonne of Fellbeast, 400 International media, 12 classic convertibles, 200 extras in LOTR costume, 20,000 rolls of ticker tape, 27,000 party nibbles, 150km of cable, 50 vip vehicles, 25 vip cast & crew, 2km of barrier, and a 747 Jumbo-jet were all brought together for this special day in Wellington.

The premiere in Wellington was seen around the world and was like no other before it. It now holds the title as the largest world premiere in history with over 250,000 filling the streets, balconies and roof tops to catch a glimpse of the red carpet and it’s star-studded lineup.

Together with New Line Cinema, Village Roadshow and the Wellington City Council Chameleon’s proud to have been given the opportunity to create and manage this amazing one-off event.

“Thanks for a once in a lifetime, world class event, it will be remembered for a long time … the quality just blew away our overseas visitors … our event was a world first … and you pulled it off. Congratulations.”

Barry Osbourne, Producer of The Lord Of The Rings

“Chameleon has tremendous resources and most importantly a calm and collected manner of working. I hope to work with Chameleon again in the future and would consider this company top of my list for events anywhere in the world”

Tracie Lorie, Senior Vice President of International publicity – New Line Cinema