For now, the saga The Lord of the Rings is absolutely inseparable from its famous director. This should change with the Amazon series. We explain why.
When the new Amazon Prime Video series was announced, one of the things that most worried fans of the saga inspired by JRR Tolkien’s books was the absence of the legendary Peter Jackson in the credits. The New Zealand director, made famous for directing the original trilogy, was not even consulted by Amazon teams: no hard feelings, he explains.
Will Jackson weave laurels soon at Amazon?
The director confided a few days ago, in the columns of Hollywood Reporter :
“They asked if Fran Walsh, the writer and producer, and I wanted to be part of the adventure. To which I replied: ‘impossible to answer that question without having seen a script’. We were told said they would send it to us as soon as the first elements were completed… But we never got it. That’s the last thing we heard regarding it, but that’s okay, I’m not complaining at all.”
He continues his answer and plays it very fair: “I’m not the kind of guy who’s going to wish people bad luck. Making movies is complicated enough as it is. If someone makes a good movie or a good TV show, that’s something we we have to celebrate. I can’t wait to see her as a perfectly neutral spectator.” An ordinary spectator perhaps… But a neutral spectator? Many fans of Lord of the Rings certainly won’t be “neutral” watching the Amazon series.
Grand budget, stunning decor
As a reminder, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was formalized as early as 2017, when Amazon bought the rights to the franchise from Warner. Many rumors circulated, many fears too. What we know today is that this series is probably one of the most expensive in history (with a budget of 200 million per season), despite the absence of superstars in the cast.
A grand trailer was unveiled a few weeks ago at Comic-Con in San Diego.
Following Peter Jackson’s interview, Amazon issued a press release, also in the columns of Hollywood Reporter :
“When we acquired the rights to the series, we had an obligation to keep the series very separate from the films. We have the utmost respect for Peter Jackson and the Lord of the Rings films and are excited that ‘he’s looking forward to seeing The Rings of Power.”
In Hollywood, it’s never just a question of big money… This remark simply confirms one thing: despite the rumors, it was never really a question of Peter Jackson directing part of the series. As expected, the series and the films will therefore be well disconnected. The series will be available on Amazon Prime Video from September 2, 2022.
