Peter Jackson, who directed the beloved Lord of the Rings trilogy, was set to collaborate with Amazon on the upcoming prequel series, The Rings of Power, but for some reason, the studio ghosted him sometime after reaching out.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is one of the most anticipated TV shows of the year, and Amazon has a lot riding on it. Amazon has put up almost half a billion dollars to produce the first season alone, so understandably they sought the expertise of Peter Jackson, who previously adapted J.R.R. Tolkien’s iconic books to great effect.
Jackson and The Lord of the Rings co-writer Fran Walsh were happy to oblige too, but Amazon never sent them the scripts for The Rings of Power after promising to do so. Here’s what Jackson recently said on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast.
"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.' 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."
Peter Jackson Is Excited to Watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Peter Jackson isn’t one to dwell on matters of the past, even though Amazon snubbed him after getting his hopes up. In fact, Jackson is looking forward to watching The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power as a "neutral viewer."
"I’ll be watching it. I’m not the sort of guy who wishes ill will. Filmmaking is hard enough. If somebody makes a good film or TV show, it’s something to celebrate. The one thing I am looking forward to is actually seeing it as a perfectly neutral viewer."
As for those wondering why Amazon left Peter Jackson hanging after promising to send him the scripts, apparently, it was over legal issues. Amazon Studios released the following statement in response to Jackson’s comments.
"In pursuing the rights for our show, we were obligated to keep the series distinct and separate from the films. 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 Lord of the Rings rights issue is complicated, but that’s no excuse to snub a filmmaker of Peter Jackson’s stature. Warner Bros. still owns the rights to the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and The Rings of Power team didn’t want to get in trouble trying to imitate Jackson’s style.
THR also reports that J.R.R. Tolkien’s estate was against involving Jackson in The Rings of Power. Christopher Tolkien had previously slammed the movies for "eviscerating" his father’s books, and the estate had zero involvement in WB and New Line’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, the Tolkien Estate is heavily involved with The Rings of Power, which isn’t surprising considering Amazon paid them $250 million for the rights. Hopefully, The Rings of Power will be a worthy and satisfying adaptation of Tolkien’s legendary works.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on September 2, 2022.