Air NZ's in-flight safety goes Hobbit style

The Hobbit gets a makeover in this new Air New Zealand safety video. Photo / Air NZ

The Hobbit director Sir Peter Jackson stars in the latest Air New Zealand inflight safety video - An Unexpected Briefing.

The video, inspired by the upcoming The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, features hobbits, elves, wizards and other characters from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films.

Sir Peter makes a cameo appearance, collecting "one ring" which he finds on the ground.

Like Gollum in the Lord of the Rings he exclaims "my Precious", before putting the ring on, and disappearing.

"Sir Peter Jackson and the team at Warner Bros Pictures in the United States were fantastically supportive during production of the video," Air New Zealand general manager marketing and communications Mike Tod said.

"To have Gollum step off the movie screen for the first time and into an Air New Zealand aircraft is incredibly special and Sir Peter Jackson delivers a superb cameo. He should come out from behind the camera more often."

The clip also features New Zealander Dean O'Gorman, who plays the Dwarf Fili in the movie, and Mike and Royd Tolkien, great-grandsons of the book's author, JRR Tolkien.

The video was created in conjunction with the Academy Award-winning Weta Workshop, who have worked on both the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films.

Air New Zealand has a reputation for creative in-flight videos, including one starring the All Blacks to coincide with last year's Rugby World Cup.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey premieres in Wellington on November 28.