Straits Times readers can catch The Hobbit early

Readers of this newspaper will get early entry to Middle Earth, ahead of everyone else.

As part of the Straits Times Appreciates Readers (Star) programme, which aims to reward the newspaper's loyal readers, a special movie screening of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be held exclusively for readers and subscribers.

The special event will be held on 12.12.12. - Dec 12, one day before the movie's theatrical release here - at the Shaw Theatres Lido in Orchard Road.

The Star Movie Night is organised by The Straits Times and supported by Warner Bros, Standard Chartered Bank, Tenet Insurance and Samsung.

A pair of tickets each will be given to 750 people for the screening of the highly anticipated adventure drama directed by New Zealand Oscar winner Peter Jackson of Lord Of The Rings fame.

Starring Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ian McKellen, the movie is adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien's 1937 book of the same name. It is the first part in a movie trilogy; the second part, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, will be released next year, while the finale, The Hobbit: There And Back Again, is expected to be released in 2014.

The Star Movie Night is the latest of the Straits Times Appreciates Readers series of events.

Past Star events included ticket giveaways for the Formula One race, as well as the recent Panda-monium contest, which will give readers a chance to see pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia before the public.

There was also the Star Concert held on July 15, which brought in international acts such as American pop-rock group Boys Like Girls and South Korean girl group 4Minute.

Straits Times editor Warren Fernandez said: "Many of us in Singapore love movies, and reviews and coverage of films are a big part of our Life! pages.

"Our Star movie night will take things further. Readers get priority to watch one of the biggest movies of the year, which we will be writing about. They get to interact with our movie reviewers. And they can send us their own reviews of the film as well. It all adds to the fun of the event."

In order to score tickets for this exclusive event, readers can participate in the contest in two ways.

For subscribers to this paper, they can log on to the Singapore Press Holdings Rewards Portal (www.sphrewards.com.sg) to download a voucher from Nov 26, and redeem a pair of tickets each. These will be given out on a first come, first served basis.

These tickets are for screenings on regular cinema screens.

For those interested in snagging Imax 3-D tickets to the movie, all readers - including non-subscribers - will have to participate in a coupon contest.

To take part, answer a Hobbit-related question on the Star Movie Night coupon, cut it out and mail it to the Singapore Press Holdings' locked bag service. Winners will be picked on Nov 30 and notified by e-mail.

Costume-play enthusiasts are also encouraged to dress up for the event as characters from The Hobbit for a cosplay contest held the same night.

Characters that readers can dress up as include Gollum, Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf and Galadriel.

yipwy@sph.com.sg