Lord of the Rings Director Peter Jackson Says Rings of Power Team Ghosted Him
Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is not involved in Amazon’s upcoming series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and now we know why: They straight-up ghosted him.
Jackson recalled during The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast that both he and Fran Walsh (who co-wrote and co-produced the LOTR trilogy) were asked if they wanted to be involved with the show.
“I said, ‘That’s an impossible question to answer without seeing a script,’’” he explained on the podcast. But after being told the first few scripts would be sent over, Jackson says they “never showed up.”
“That’s the last thing I heard, which is fine,” he added, assuring there was no ill will towards the show. “No complaints at all.”
Amazon responded to Jackson’s comments via a statement to The Hollywood Reporter that read: “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.”
Premiering Friday, Sept. 2, Rings of Power will cover major events from the J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy epic’s Second Age, including Sauron’s ascension to power; the forging of the Rings of Power, which the Dark Lord gifted to humans, elves and dwarves and secretly controlled with his master ring (aka the One Ring to Rule Them All); the rise and fall of Númenor, the island of men from which Aragorn is descended; and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, a final stand against Sauron (depicted in the prologue of Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring).
Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay will executive-produce alongside Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, Belén Atienza, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Bruce Richmond and Sharon Tal Yguado, while Ron Ames and Christopher Newman will serve as producers.
Meanwhile, Lord of the Rings composer Howard Shore will write the main theme, and Bear McCreary will score the entire series.
Whether they were obligated to keep the show separate from the films or not, they could have communicated with him about the change. Pretty rude not to say anything further.
Do we know yet if this show is getting a binge, multibatch, or weekly release?
It will be released weekly.
And most people will have forgotten about the show by week three.
As opposed by week one, when binge-released.
I would’ve ghosted him too after those Hobbit movies.
Evil cannot create. Only corrupt.
I’m more concerned by the fact that they’ve ghosted JRR Tolkien…
And the Tolkien historian they initially hired, then dismissed.
Amen! This series may indeed turn out to be well made and entertaining, but it won’t be Tolkein. Too many things have already been revealed about it that directly contradict Tolkein’s own wishes.
He probably wanted some serious money. He’s not cheap and I don’t blame them.
I’m guessing they just wanted the names Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh to attract more audience… but luckily Peter and Fran have enough money and brain not sell their names blindly.
The fact that they didn’t want Jackson to see the script before coming aboard might hint about the quality of the writing. =P
Yup. They braged about having him onboard
I had exactly the same thoughts.
I’m not surprised they didn’t sent him any scripts. They were embarrassed because the quality is garbage.
What kind of idiot would hire two inexperienced showrunners and think it would be a good idea to not respect the source material, but to tarnish Tolkiens legacy.
Amazon didn’t learn anything from the horrible Wheel of time adaptation.
Game of thrones at its height was made by inexperienced showrunners.
Im sure they probably decided not to include him because of the red tape involved money e.t.c…
Jackson made those Hobbit films which dragged too much so lets not act as if everything he made worked completely
Bullet dodged; Jackson should send the showrunners a gift basket and a thank you note…