Hobbit Has Red-Carpet Welcome as New Zealand Eyes Dwarf Gold

Twenty-year-old Washington D.C. resident Elvish Scheible flew to New Zealand for today’s film premiere of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” hoping her elven-queen costume will catch the eye of star Cate Blanchett.

Scheible, who changed her first name, is among thousands of fans and locals lining half a kilometer of red carpet in the capital’s Courtenay Place to celebrate the return of a film franchise that’s already brought more than $580 million in movie business and tourism to New Zealand. Nine years after director Peter Jackson unveiled the final movie in his three-part “Lord of the Rings” saga here, actors including Blanchett and Elijah Wood are adding glitz to the start of a new trilogy.