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Something about me? I have been a nerdy cinephile for as long as I can remember. Putting the two together is living my best life. That notwithstanding, I was born to express, not to impress, so I blog because I don't have friends. In other news, I like hashtags because they look like waffles, prefer my puns intended, and I always give 100% unless I'm donating blood. Thanks for reading.
Legendary saga director and Tolkien enthusiast Peter Jackson said he “seriously considered” hypnosis as a means to forget making the Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, he shared his reason: “To enjoy watching them as a fan.”
Who can blame him? The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the most awarded film in cinematic history, earning 475 awards out of 800—a stunning 59% win rate. And while we were sitting in the theater, IMAX, or enjoying the luxury of our couch and applauding every detail of this epic journey, Peter Jackson didn’t get that experience.
The Pukerua Bay, Porirua, New Zealand director sat down with The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast and revealed some introspection about the very fandom he helped curate.
When we did the Lord of the Rings movies, I always felt I was the unlucky person who never got to see [them] as a coming-out-of-the-blue film.
Considering the billions of dollars–or New Zealand dollars, in this case–Jackson raked in for all three of those extended cuts, “unlucky” is probably not the most accurate word. Nonetheless, we get it.
Peter Jackson: Poor Guy?
(Credit: Pierre Vinet via Wingnut Films/New Line Cinema)
Peter Jackson. Director. Visionary. Auteur. And butthurt that he can’t have his elven cake and eat it too. Yes, he would like the fandom experience, but he got the director’s cut–of the money. So, it’s hard to feel bad for the guy, but we get it.
Watching Frodo Baggins and his band of merry men…eh, Shire hobbits in search of Dark Lord Sauron and the power to destroy the “precious” One Ring was a cinematic achievement. The trilogy was a triumph culminating with The Two Towers earning 11 Academy Awards. It took Oscar some time to come around and reward geek mythology, but it happened.
If only Peter Jackson could have enjoyed the films as we did.
By the time they were screening, I was immersed in it for five or six years. It was such a loss for me not be able to see them like everyone else. I actually did seriously consider going to some hypnotherapy guy to hypnotize me to make me forget about the films and the work I had done over the last six or seven years so I could sit and enjoy them. I didn’t follow through with it, but I did talk to [British mentalist] Derren Brown about that and he thought he could do it
Peter Jackson, THR podcast
(Source: Amazon Studios/Prime Video)
While Jackson feels slightly cheated in that he doesn’t get to drool and fawn over the movies like the rest of us did, he will get to that for Prime Video’s $1 billion adventure in search of The Rings of Power.
In an odd twist of source material discord, Peter Jackson shared a little of his hurt feelers about the Prime Video megabudget series. His account is they asked for his help and guidance–but then “ghosted him.”
There was a “promise” for Jackson to look over the scripts. Only, he never received them. And they never took his calls after that.
“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 recalled to Scott Feinberg on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast. “So they said, ‘As soon as we get the first couple scripts, we’ll send them to you.’ And the scripts never showed up. That’s the last thing I heard, which is fine. No complaints at all.”
Even then, Peter Jackson noted that he is looking forward to seeing the series “as a perfectly neutral viewer.” Amazon Studios read the THR article and offered some drivel like:
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.
Yeah, but that respect didn’t come with a return call. But the Tolkien estate isn’t the most loyal of Jackson fans–or either of his trilogies. Christopher Tolkien (J.R.R.’s boy) accused the director of “eviscerating his father’s books” because the movies “lacked beauty and seriousness.” It’s possible young Tolkien didn’t watch the right films, but who cares?
The Rings of Power is set an entire millennia before the fun began in The Lord of the Rings. Hypnosis or not, we all enjoy this fan-service fiction starting September 2. Yet, despite all the ballyhoo Peter Jackson is drumming up, the moral of the story is this:
Seldom is a person king of the mountain permanently, whether Everest or Aragorn. Enjoy your time when you’re there because it’s one helluva view—the end.
Featured Image Photo Credit: Robert Patterson/Getty Images
Something about me? I have been a nerdy cinephile for as long as I can remember. Putting the two together is living my best life. That notwithstanding, I was born to express, not to impress, so I blog because I don't have friends. In other news, I like hashtags because they look like waffles, prefer my puns intended, and I always give 100% unless I'm donating blood. Thanks for reading.
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