Lord of the Rings’ Peter Jackson addresses his directing future after 11-year hiatus
Having not been behind the camera on a major Hollywood feature for 11 years, Sir Peter Jackson has insisted he is "certainly not retired" from making movies.
Sir Peter Jackson is “certainly not retired” from directing.
The 63-year-old filmmaker - who famously helmed The Lord of the Rings trilogy - last got behind the camera for a major Hollywood movie with 2014’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, and Jackson has now insisted his directing career is far from over.
When Screen Rant asked him if he was retired from directing, Jackson said: “No, no. I'm certainly not retired. We are currently working on three different screenplays. I'm at the moment writing three different scripts.”
Jackson added he was currently producing The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which will see Andy Serkis reprise his iconic titular role, while also serving as the director.
He said: “We are producing and have been writing The Hunt for Gollum, which Andy Serkis is going to direct next year.
“I've enjoyed working on documentaries, whether they show I've grown old or not, and obviously the Get Back The Beatles project. I've enjoyed doing various things with The Beatles, which is great, and that'll probably carry on.”
As well as these projects, Jackson is also a major investor in Colossal Biosciences, which is currently working on bringing the Giant Moa back from extinction.
The filmmaker added that bringing the big bird back would be “just as exciting, if not more exciting, than any film [he] could possibly make”.
He said: “De-extincting the Moa would be just as exciting, if not more exciting, than any film I could possibly make.
“I've made a lot of movies, but to see the Giant Moa brought back would be a level of excitement that I think would supersede anything at this point in time.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will take place during the events of 2001’s The Fellowship of the Ring, and will see Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) go on a quest to find Sméagol/Gollum.
However, Mortensen - who starred as the character in The Lord of the Rings trilogy - has not yet signed on to reprise Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.
Writer Philippa Boyens explained to The Playlist: “The Hunt for Gollum is set during The Fellowship of the Ring era, shortly before Frodo Baggins leaves the Shire for Rivendell.
“And it begins with Gandalf sending Aragorn on a quest to find Gollum, who the wizard fears may reveal information about the One Ring to Sauron, so Viggo Mortensen’s appearance is crucial.
“But will he return? Honestly, that’s entirely going to be up to Viggo, collaboratively and we are at a very early stage.
“I’ve spoken to Viggo, Andy has spoken to him, Peter has spoken to him, we’ve all spoken to each other and honestly, I cannot imagine anyone else playing Aragorn, but it will be completely and entirely up to Viggo.”
Jackson previously explained that it made sense to explore Gollum more than the likes of Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) or Legolas (Orlando Bloom) with his own spin-off movie The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum - which is slated to hit cinemas on December 17, 2027.
Speaking with Deadline, he said: “The Gollum/Sméagol character has always fascinated me because Gollum reflects the worst of human nature, whilst his Sméagol side is, arguably, quite sympathetic.
“I think he connects with readers and film audiences alike, because there's a little bit of both of them in all of us.
“We really want to explore his backstory and delve into those parts of his journey we didn't have time to cover in the earlier films.”
