Director Peter Jackson Says He Was Ghosted by Prime Video Over Lord of the Rings Series

Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson revealed the Rings of Power makers asked if he wanted to participate in the new series—before ghosting him.

By Cydney Contreras Aug 08, 2022 6:43 PMTags
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Peter Jackson is not heading back to Middle-earth.

As the mastermind behind the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, it stands to reason that the director would be involved in the latest J.R.R. Tolkien adaptation, the Prime Video series The Rings of Power. It turns out the Oscar winner was approached to participate in the new series but was ghosted before making a decision. "They asked me if I wanted to be involved—[writer-producer Fran Walsh] and I — and I said, ‘That's an impossible question to answer without seeing a script,'" Jackson told The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast Aug. 8. "So they said, ‘As soon as we get the first couple scripts, we'll send them to you.' And the scripts never showed up."

To add further insult to injury, Jackson said, "That's the last thing I heard."

Jackson further stated that despite the ghosting, he'll still be tuning in to the new show. "I'm not the sort of guy who wishes ill will," he explained. "Filmmaking is hard enough. If somebody makes a good film or TV show, it's something to celebrate."

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Since the Prime Video series is largely based on Tolkien's appendices to the Lord of the Rings books, Jackson isn't sure what the new show will be like. But he does know that he's "looking forward to is actually seeing it as a perfectly neutral viewer."

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Watching the Middle-earth happenings is a new experience for Jackson, who shared that the least enjoyable part of making Lord of the Rings was watching the movies, because he couldn't remove himself from the filmmaking process. "It was such a loss for me," he said, "to not to be able to experience it as everyone else was."

Still, Jackson's work paid off, with the third installment in the trilogy, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, taking home 11 awards—including Best Picture and Director—at the 76th Academy Awards. The film is even tied with 1959's Ben-Hur and 1997's Titanic for the most Academy Award wins.

Prime Video acknowledged these accolades in a statement, while also noting that their decision to leave Jackson out was purely business. "In pursuing the rights for our show, we were obligated to keep the series distinct and separate from the films," the studio told THR. "We have the utmost respect for Peter Jackson and The Lord of The Rings films and are thrilled that he is looking forward to watching The Rings of Power."

The Rings of Power premieres Sept. 2 on Prime Video.

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