The Hobbit dispute

The Herald reports an e-mail from Peter Jackson:

“There is no connection between the blacklist (and it’s eventual retraction) and the choice of production base for The Hobbit,” he wrote.

Sir Peter will no doubt put the e-mail in context at some stage, but I wonder if the word “now” is not missing. In otehr words what he is saying is that just because the blacklist has been or will be retracted doesn’t mean that The Hobbit is safe here.

“What Warners requires for The Hobbit is the certainty of a stable employment environment and the ability to conduct its business in such as way that it feels its $500 million investment is as secure as possible.”

It has always been clear that to some degree Warners used the dispute as a way to get better terms. But if the global boycott had never been instituted, I don’t see that they would have done so – the location had been long agreed.