Winter is Coming
Fansided

How involved is Peter Jackson is Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series?

By David Harris (Razor)

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - MARCH 15: Peter Jackson, New Zealand director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy poses with the props from the fil set in his Wingnut Films office in Wellington New Zealand. Jackson has been nominated for best director at the 2002 Academy Awards and his film 'The fellowship of the Ring' has a further 12 nominations. (Photo by Robert Patterson/Getty Images)
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - MARCH 15: Peter Jackson, New Zealand director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy poses with the props from the fil set in his Wingnut Films office in Wellington New Zealand. Jackson has been nominated for best director at the 2002 Academy Awards and his film 'The fellowship of the Ring' has a further 12 nominations. (Photo by Robert Patterson/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

In April, fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings got a pleasant surprise when they learned that Amazon had purchased the rights to create a series set in Middle Earth. What’s more, they purchased those rights for a staggering amount of money, to the point where it’s projected that the first two seasons of the show will cost upwards of $500 million to produce (for reference, HBO spent $100 million on Game of Thrones season 6). Before long, fans began to wonder what the series would be about, and if director Peter Jackson would be attached.

Jackson, if you’re unfamiliar, wrote the screenplays, directed and produced both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. When it comes to adapting J.R.R. Tolkien’s works for the screen, he’s the first person fans think of. Will he be involved in the Amazon series? It’s complicated.

Speaking to French website AlloCiné about his new film Mortal Engines, Jackson seemed to draw a line in the sand:

"I’m not involved at all with the Lord of the Rings series, I understand my name can be quoted, but nothing is happening with me on this project."

So that’s pretty clear…right? Wrong. Shortly after that interview, Jackson told IGN’s German website that he had spoken to Amazon over the phone. “[I]t sounded like they were doing the right thing [with the show], they have very good intentions with it, it all sounds very fascinating and exciting,” he said. “However, I would not want to be the one responsible for the entire TV series, simply because I’ve never been responsible for a [long-term] series like this before in my life. So it would not be very smart if I took on the role of showrunner. What I’m actually doing right now is putting the creative team [behind the series] together.”

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND – NOVEMBER 28: Director Sir Peter Jackson emerges from from a Hobbit house before delivering a speech at the ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ World Premiere at Embassy Theatre on November 28, 2012 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND – NOVEMBER 28: Director Sir Peter Jackson emerges from from a Hobbit house before delivering a speech at the ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ World Premiere at Embassy Theatre on November 28, 2012 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images) /

So to recap: Peter Jackson isn’t involved with the show at all, and he won’t be a showrunner on it, but he is helping form a creative team for it. So, you’re saying there’s a chance?

Kidding aside, it should be noted that both of these interviews were given to non-English language outlets, so something could have been lost in translation.

What do you guys think? Should Jackson be involved in Amazon’s revival of the onscreen Lord of the Rings universe, or should he step completely aside and let new creatives take a stab at it?

Next: What should Amazon’s Lord of the Rings prequel series be about? Here are 13 ideas

To stay up to date on everything Game of Thrones, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Watch Game of Thrones for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels

h/t Slashfilm

Home/Lord of the Rings