Lord of the Rings Leaves Mountain Setting
Staff Reporter

Months of hype and excitement for Mid Canterbury has drawn to a close, with The Lord of the Rings film crew leaving the district.

The crew left the Mt Sunday site almost two weeks ago and demolition of the Edoras set, south-west of Mt Somers, began this week.

Unit publicist Claire Raskind said it was expected to take two months to clear the site and leave in its normal condition. This involved removing every piece of steel, timber and straw from site and restoring the landscape and vegetation including replanting tussock.

Saturday was the anniversary of the first day of filming Lord of the Rings for the production company Three Foot Six.

Film crews returned for sets back in the Wellington studio after leaving Mid Canterbury before moving to film locations in Twizel and Queenstown where filming is currently under way.

Ms Raskind said it would then be back to the studio to tidy up filming with shooting expected to be complete by the end of this year.