NEW Zealand has a new capital city.

Wellington has been re-named Middle of Middle-earth to celebrate tomorrow night's world premiere of the first of Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies, An Unexpected Journey.

The whole city has been gripped by Hobbit fever, with the character-wrapped Air New Zealand 777-300 aircraft flying in from Auckland today, bringing with it stars of the film including Graham McTavish, Aidan Turner, Sylvester McCoy and Dean O'Gorman.

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They were greeted at Wellington airport by Jackson and fellow actors Martin Freeman, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis and James Nesbitt.

A12m sculpture of Gollum - a $250,000 piece crafted by local special effects studio WETA - greets passengers at the airport, where luggage can be collected from "Baggins Services".

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In the city centre, fans have gathered at a themed marketplace, premiere venue the Embassy Theatre is watched over by a 40ft tall Gandalf, Middle-earth dollars are circulating and mail is going out stamped "Middle-earth".

The head of WETA, Sir Richard Taylor, has three fans from Germany camped out in his living room.

WETA, which has worked on films including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Avatar and King Kong, is allowing fans a rare glimpse into their creations by opening a window into their workshop for the next two months.

The fuss would be all for nought, of course, without a movie, and renowned perfectionist Jackson put the finishing touches on An Unexpected Journey only yesterday.

Australian actors Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and Barry Humphries will attend the premiere.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in Australia on Boxing Day - two weeks after it opens for our Kiwi cousins.

The Hobbit-wrapped Air New Zealand jumbo will make some flights into Brisbane and Melbourne.