Sir Peter Jackson has revealed he has not yet finished work on the first installment of The Hobbit less than a week before the world premiere in Wellington.
The movie mogul posted a 14-minute video on Facebook with snippets from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, but said the final edit would not be ready until 48 hours before the first official screening on November 28.
Jackson narrates the video from Park Road, the Wellington post production studio where he says producers will be "spending a huge amount of time" putting the finishing touches on the film.
"It's due to be completed literally 2 days before the premiere. Hopefully," Jackson said in the video.
The director said everyone was sleep-deprived from "working around the clock" to get it finished.
This week it was revealed which stars would walk down the red carpet at the capital's premiere, including Martin Freeman, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and Richard Armitage.
Sir Ian McKellen, who reprises his role from Lord of the Rings in the latest movie, will not be be there despite indicating he would attend earlier this month on his blog.
New Zealand audiences will be able to see the first of The Hobbit trilogy from December 12.