Sir Peter Robert Jackson,
KNZMThe New Zealand Order of Merit is an order established in 1996 "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions or other merits."The order includes five...
(born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his
The Lord of the Rings film trilogyThe Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
(2001 to 2003), adapted from the
novel by J. R. R. TolkienThe Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
.
He won international attention early in his career with his "
splatstickA splatter film or gore film is a subgenre of horror film that deliberately focuses on graphic portrayals of gore and graphic violence. These films, through the use of special effects and excessive blood and guts, tend to display an overt interest in the vulnerability of the human body and the...
" horror comedies such as
Bad TasteBad Taste is a 1987 cult science fiction comedy horror film. Produced on a low budget, it is one of the first films directed by Peter Jackson. The film features Jackson and his friends taking a number of key roles, both on and off-screen...
(1987) and
Braindead (1992), before coming to mainstream prominence with
Heavenly CreaturesHeavenly Creatures is a 1994 film directed by Peter Jackson, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his wife Fran Walsh, about the notorious 1954 Parker-Hulme murder case in Christchurch, New Zealand. Filmed on location in Christchurch, it features Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet in their screen debuts...
(1994), for which he shared an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay nomination with his wife,
Fran WalshFrances "Fran" Walsh, Lady Jackson, MNZM is a screenwriter, film producer and occasional musician. She is the spouse of filmmaker Peter Jackson. They have two children: Billy and Katie....
. Jackson has been awarded three
Academy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
in his career, including the award for Best Director in 2003; he also won the
BAFTAWinners of the BAFTA Award for Best Direction presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.-2010s:* 2010 - David Fincher – The Social Network** Tom Hooper – The King's Speech** Danny Boyle – 127 Hours...
, Golden Globe and
Saturn Award for Best DirectionThe following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Direction:-Multiple Winners:*James Cameron - 5 awards*Steven Spielberg - 4 awards*Peter Jackson - 3 awards*Bryan Singer - 2 awards...
the same year.
His films also include
Meet the FeeblesMeet the Feebles is a 1989 black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson. It features Jim Henson-esque puppets in a perverse comic satire. Like Henson's Muppets, the Feebles are animal-figured puppets assembled together as members of a theatre troupe...
(1989),
The FrightenersThe Frighteners is a 1996 comedy horror film directed by Peter Jackson and co-written with his wife, Fran Walsh. The film's cast includes Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, John Astin, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace, Jake Busey and Chi McBride...
(1996),
King KongKing Kong is a 2005 fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a remake of the 1933 film of the same name and stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody. Andy Serkis, through performance capture, portrays Kong....
(2005),
The Lovely BonesThe Lovely Bones is a 2009 American drama film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a film adaptation of the award-winning and best-selling 2002 novel of the same name by Alice Sebold. The film stars Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon, alongside Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz as Susie's parents Jack and...
(2009), and the upcomings
Lord of the Rings prequels
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) and
The Hobbit: There and Back Again (2013). He is also the producer of
District 9District 9 is a 2009 South African science fiction thriller film directed by Neill Blomkamp. It was written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James...
(2009) and
The Adventures of Tintin (2011).
Jackson was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002. He was later knighted (as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit) by Governor-General Anand Satyanand at a ceremony in Wellington in April, 2010.
Early life
Jackson, an only child, was born on 31 October 1961. He grew up in
Pukerua BayPukerua Bay is a small seaside community at the southern end of the Kapiti Coast, New Zealand. In local government terms it is the northernmost suburb of Porirua City...
, a coastal town near
WellingtonWellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
. His parents - Joan, a factory worker and housewife, and William (Bill) Jackson, a wages clerk - were both immigrants from
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. His father was a veteran of the Siege of Malta in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. As a child, Jackson was a keen film fan, growing up on
Ray HarryhausenRay Harryhausen is an American film producer and special effects creator...
films as well as finding inspiration in the television series
ThunderbirdsThunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
and
Monty Python's Flying CircusMonty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
. After a family friend gave the Jacksons a
Super 8Super 8 mm film is a motion picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement of the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format....
cine-camera with Peter in mind, he began making short films with his friends. Jackson has long cited
King KongKing Kong is a Pre-Code 1933 fantasy monster adventure film co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, and written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman after a story by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. The film tells of a gigantic island-dwelling apeman creature called Kong who dies in...
as his favourite film and around the age of nine he attempted to remake it using his own stop-motion models. Also as a child the young Jackson made a WWII epic and a
James BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
spoof named
Coldfinger. Most notably though was a 10 minute short called 'The Valley' which won him a special prize because of the shots he used.
Jackson had no formal training in film-making, but learned about editing, special effects and make-up largely through his own trial and error. As a teenager Jackson discovered the work of author
J. R. R. TolkienJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
after watching
The Lord of the RingsJ.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is a 1978 American fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi. It contains both animation and live action footage which is rotoscoped to give it a more consistent look throughout the length of the movie. It is an adaptation of the first half of the high fantasy...
(1978), an animated film by
Ralph BakshiRalph Bakshi is an Israeli-American director of animated and live-action films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, five of which he wrote...
that was a part-adaptation of Tolkien's fantasy trilogy.
When he was 16 years old, Jackson left school and began working full time as a photo lithographer for a newspaper. For the 7 years he worked there, Jackson lived at home with his parents so he could save as much money as possible to spend on filming equipment. After two years of work Jackson bought a
16 mm16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...
camera, and began shooting a short film that later became
Bad TasteBad Taste is a 1987 cult science fiction comedy horror film. Produced on a low budget, it is one of the first films directed by Peter Jackson. The film features Jackson and his friends taking a number of key roles, both on and off-screen...
.
The splatter period
Over four years (from 1983 to 1987) Jackson's first feature,
Bad TasteBad Taste is a 1987 cult science fiction comedy horror film. Produced on a low budget, it is one of the first films directed by Peter Jackson. The film features Jackson and his friends taking a number of key roles, both on and off-screen...
, grew in haphazard fashion from a short film into a 90-minute splatter comedy, with many of Jackson's friends acting and working on it for free. Shooting was normally done in the weekends since Jackson was now working full-time.
Bad Taste is about aliens that come to earth with the intention of turning humans into food. Jackson had two acting roles including a scene in which he fights himself.
The film was finally completed thanks to a late injection of finance from the
New Zealand Film CommissionThe New Zealand Film Commission is a New Zealand government agency formed to assist with creating and promoting New Zealand films...
, after Jim Booth, the body's executive director, became convinced of Jackson's talent (Booth later left the Commission to become Jackson's producer). In May 1987,
Bad Taste was unveiled at the
Cannes Film FestivalThe Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
, where rights to the film quickly sold to twelve countries.
Around this time Peter Jackson began working on writing a number of film scripts, in varied collaborative groupings with playwright Stephen Sinclair, writer
Fran WalshFrances "Fran" Walsh, Lady Jackson, MNZM is a screenwriter, film producer and occasional musician. She is the spouse of filmmaker Peter Jackson. They have two children: Billy and Katie....
and writer/actor
Danny MulheronDanny Mulheron is a New Zealand actor, writer, and director who has worked in theatre, television and film.In 2008 he released "The Third Richard" a feature length documentary where he tells the story of his Grandfather, a Jewish German composer whose music was banned by the Nazis, rejected in New...
. Walsh would later become his partner. Some of the scripts from this period, including
A Nightmare on Elm StreetA Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American slasher film directed and written by Wes Craven, and the first film of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film features Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund, and Johnny Depp in his feature film...
sequel, have never been made into movies; the proposed
zombieZombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
film
Braindead underwent extensive rewrites.
Jackson's next film to see release was
Meet the FeeblesMeet the Feebles is a 1989 black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson. It features Jim Henson-esque puppets in a perverse comic satire. Like Henson's Muppets, the Feebles are animal-figured puppets assembled together as members of a theatre troupe...
(1989), co-written by the four writers mentioned above. An ensemble musical comedy starring Muppet-style puppets,
Feebles originally began as a short film intended for television, but was rapidly expanded into a full-length script after unexpected enthusiasm from Japanese investors, and the collapse of
Braindead, six weeks before filming. Begun on a very low budget,
Feebles went weeks over schedule. Jackson stated of his second feature length film, "It's got a quality of humour that alienates a lot of people.. It's very black, very satirical, very savage."
Feebles marked Jackson's first collaboration with special effects team Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger, who would later work on all Jackson's movies.
Jackson's next release was the horror comedy
Braindead (1992) (released in North America as
Dead Alive), now seen as a landmark in splatter movies. Originally planned as a Spanish co-production, the film reversed the usual zombie plot. Rather than keeping the zombies out of his place of refuge, the hero attempts to keep them inside, while maintaining a façade of normality. The film features extensive special effects including miniature trams, stop motion and a plethora of gory make-up effects.
Heavenly Creatures and Forgotten Silver
Released in 1994 after Jackson won a race to bring the story to the screen,
Heavenly CreaturesHeavenly Creatures is a 1994 film directed by Peter Jackson, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his wife Fran Walsh, about the notorious 1954 Parker-Hulme murder case in Christchurch, New Zealand. Filmed on location in Christchurch, it features Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet in their screen debuts...
marked a major change for Jackson in terms of both style and tone. The film is based on real-life events: namely the Parker–Hulme murder in which two teenage girls in 1950s
ChristchurchChristchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
became close friends, some say lovers, and later murdered the mother of one of the girls. Jackson's partner Fran Walsh helped persuade him that the events had the makings of a movie; Jackson has been quoted saying that the film "only got made" because of her enthusiasm for the subject matter. Many New Zealanders were apprehensive about how Jackson would treat the material, an apprehension that would later turn in many cases to relief. The film's fame coincided with the New Zealand media tracking down the real-life Juliet Hulme, who now wrote books under the name
Anne PerryAnne Perry is an English author of historical detective fiction. Perry was convicted of the murder of her friend's mother in 1954.-Early life:Born Juliet Marion Hulme in Blackheath, London, the daughter of Dr...
. Jackson would cast the actors
Melanie LynskeyMelanie Jayne Lynskey is a New Zealand actress best known for playing Charlie Harper's neighbor/stalker Rose on Two and a Half Men, and a range of characters in films such as Win Win, Up in the Air, The Informant!, Away We Go, Flags of Our Fathers, Shattered Glass, Sweet Home Alabama, Ever After...
and
Kate WinsletKate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...
in the roles of Parker and Hulme.
Heavenly Creatures received considerable critical acclaim, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and making top ten of the year lists in
Time,
The GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
,
The Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
, and
The New Zealand Herald- External links :* * *...
.
The success of
Heavenly Creatures won Jackson attention from US company Miramax, who promoted the film vigorously in America and signed the director to a first-look deal.
The following year, in collaboration with Wellington film-maker
Costa BotesCosta Botes is a New Zealand writer, director and cinematographer.-Movie-making career:Botes is best known in New Zealand for Forgotten Silver , a documentary he co-wrote and co-directed with Peter Jackson...
, Jackson co-directed the
mockumentaryA mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
Forgotten SilverForgotten Silver is a New Zealand film mockumentary that purports to tell the story of a pioneering New Zealand filmmaker. It was written and directed by Peter Jackson and Costa Botes, both of whom appear in the film in their roles as makers of the documentary.-Synopsis:Forgotten Silver purports...
(1995). This ambitious made-for-television piece told the story of New Zealand film pioneer Colin McKenzie, who had supposedly invented colour film and 'talkies', and attempted an epic film of
SalomeSalome , the Daughter of Herodias , is known from the New Testament...
before being forgotten by the world. Though the programme played in a slot normally reserved for drama, no other warning was given that it was fictionalised. Many were outraged at discovering Colin McKenzie had never existed. Some have argued that the number of people who believed the increasingly improbable story provides testimony to Jackson and Botes' skill at playing on New Zealand's national myth of a nation of innovators and forgotten trail-blazers.
In the meantime, Jackson and Walsh had two children, Billy (1995) and Katie (1996).
Hollywood, Weta, and the Film Commission
The success of
Heavenly CreaturesHeavenly Creatures is a 1994 film directed by Peter Jackson, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his wife Fran Walsh, about the notorious 1954 Parker-Hulme murder case in Christchurch, New Zealand. Filmed on location in Christchurch, it features Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet in their screen debuts...
helped pave the way for Jackson's first big budget Hollywood film,
The FrightenersThe Frighteners is a 1996 comedy horror film directed by Peter Jackson and co-written with his wife, Fran Walsh. The film's cast includes Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, John Astin, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace, Jake Busey and Chi McBride...
starring
Michael J. FoxMichael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
, in 1996. Thanks partly to support from American producer
Robert ZemeckisRobert Lee Zemeckis is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Zemeckis first came to public attention in the 1980s as the director of the comedic time-travel Back to the Future film series, as well as the Academy Award-winning live-action/animation epic Who Framed Roger Rabbit ,...
, Jackson was given permission to make this comedy/horror film entirely in New Zealand despite being set in a North American town. This period was a key one of change for both Jackson and
Weta WorkshopWeta Workshop is a special effects and prop company based in Miramar, New Zealand, producing effects for television and film.Founded in 1987 by Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger as RT Effects, Weta Workshop has produced creatures and makeup effects for the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys...
, the special effects company — born from the one man contributions of George Port to
Heavenly Creatures — with which Jackson is often associated. Weta, initiated by Jackson and key collaborators, grew rapidly during this period to incorporate both digital and physical effects, make-up and costumes, the first two areas normally commanded by Jackson collaborator Richard Taylor.
The Frighteners was regarded as a commercial failure. Some critics expressed disappointment that it displayed little of the anarchistic humor of Jackson's early movies and that the script felt underdeveloped. In February 1997, Jackson launched legal proceedings against the
New Zealand ListenerThe New Zealand Listener is a New Zealand magazine. First published in 1939 and edited by Oliver Duff and the Monte Holcroft it originally had a monopoly on the publication of of upcoming television and radio programmes. In the 1980s it lost its monopoly on the publication of upcoming television...
magazine for defamation, over a review of
The Frighteners which claimed that the film was "built from the rubble of other people's movies". In the end, the case was not pursued further. Around this time Jackson's remake of
King Kong was shelved by
Universal StudiosUniversal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, partly because
Mighty Joe YoungThe Music was composed and conduced by James Horner. The Soundtrack was released on December of the year 1998.- Tracklist :...
, another giant gorilla movie, had already gone into production.
This period of transition seems not to have been entirely a happy one; it also marked one of the high points of tension between Jackson and the
New Zealand Film CommissionThe New Zealand Film Commission is a New Zealand government agency formed to assist with creating and promoting New Zealand films...
since
Meet the Feebles had gone over-budget earlier in his career. Jackson has claimed the Commission considered firing him from
Feebles, though the NZFC went on to help fund his next three films. In 1997, the director submitted a lengthy criticism of the Commission for a magazine supplement meant to celebrate the body's 20th anniversary, criticising what he called inconsistent decision-making by inexperienced board members. The magazine felt that the material was too long and potentially defamatory to publish in that form; a shortened version of the material went on to appear in
Metro magazine. In the
Metro article Jackson criticised the Commission over funding decisions concerning a film he was hoping to executive produce, but refused to drop a client-confidentiality clause that allowed them to publicly reply to his criticisms.
The Lord of the Rings
Peter Jackson won the rights to film J. R. R. Tolkien's epic in 1997 after meeting with producer
Saul ZaentzSaul Zaentz is an American film producer and former record company executive. He has won the Academy Award for Best Picture three times and in 1996 was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award....
. Originally working with Miramax towards a two-film production, Jackson was later pressured to render the story as a single film, and finally overcame a tight deadline by making a last minute deal with New Line, who were keen on a trilogy.
Principal photographythumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
stretched from 11 October 1999 to 22 December 2000 with extensive location filming across New Zealand. With the benefit of extended post-production and extra periods of shooting before each film's release, the series met huge success and sent Jackson's popularity soaring.
The Return of the KingThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
itself met with huge critical acclaim, winning eleven Academy Awards, including
Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
and Best Director. The film was the first of the fantasy film genre to win the award for Best Picture and was the second sequel to win Best Picture (the first being
The Godfather Part IIThe Godfather Part II is a 1974 American gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written with Mario Puzo. The film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, chronicling the story of the Corleone family following the events of the first film while also depicting the...
).
Jackson's mother, Joan, died three days before the release of the first movie in the trilogy,
The Fellowship of the Ring. There was a special showing of the film after her funeral.
Following
The Return of the King, Jackson lost a large amount of weight –over 50 pounds (22.7 kg) to the point of being unrecognisable to some fans. In
The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, he attributed his weight loss to his diet. He said, "I just got tired of being overweight and unfit, so I changed my diet from hamburgers to yogurt and
muesliMuesli is a popular breakfast cereal based on uncooked rolled oats, fruit and nuts. It was developed around 1900 by Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner for patients in his hospital...
and it seems to work."
King Kong
Universal Studios signed Peter Jackson for a second time to remake the 1933 classic
King KongKing Kong is a Pre-Code 1933 fantasy monster adventure film co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, and written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman after a story by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. The film tells of a gigantic island-dwelling apeman creature called Kong who dies in...
— the film that inspired him to become a film director as a child. He was reportedly paid a fee of US$20 million upfront, the highest salary ever paid to date to a film director in advance of production, against a 20 percent take of the box-office rentals (the portion of the price of the ticket that goes to the film distributor, in this case Universal). The film was released on 14 December 2005, and grossed around US$550 million worldwide.
The Lovely Bones
Jackson completed an
adaptationThe Lovely Bones is a 2009 American drama film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a film adaptation of the award-winning and best-selling 2002 novel of the same name by Alice Sebold. The film stars Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon, alongside Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz as Susie's parents Jack and...
of
Alice SeboldAlice Sebold is an American novelist. She has published three books: Lucky , The Lovely Bones and The Almost Moon .-Early life:...
's bestseller,
The Lovely BonesThe Lovely Bones is a 2002 novel by Alice Sebold. It is the story of a teenage girl who, after being raped and murdered, watches from her personal Heaven as her family and friends struggle to move on with their lives while she comes to terms with her own death. The novel received much critical...
, which was released in the United States on 11 December 2009. Jackson has said the film was a welcome relief from his larger-scale epics. The storyline's combination of fantasy aspects and themes of murder bears some similarities to
Heavenly Creatures.
The film was an anticipated Best Picture Oscar contender, but ended up receiving mixed reviews and middling box office returns.
The Tintin franchise
Jackson is the main producer on
The Adventures of Tintin, directed by
Steven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
. He is officially labeled as producer but helped Spielberg, before he began working on
The Hobbit, directing the film. He also supervised
Weta DigitalWeta Digital is a digital visual effects company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was founded by Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, and Jamie Selkirk in 1993 to produce the digital special effects for Heavenly Creatures. In 2007 Weta Digital’s Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, Joe Letteri, was...
on the post production of the film.
Jamie BellAndrew James Matfin "Jamie" Bell is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Billy Elliot , King Kong , Hallam Foe , Jumper , Defiance , The Eagle and The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn .- Early life :Bell was born in Billingham, in the Borough of...
and
Andy SerkisAndrew Clement G. "Andy" Serkis is an English actor, director and author. He is popularly known for playing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he earned several award nominations, including the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Two Towers...
were cast due to their collaboration with Peter Jackson on
King KongKing Kong is a 2005 fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a remake of the 1933 film of the same name and stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody. Andy Serkis, through performance capture, portrays Kong....
and
The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
. Spielberg also chose to work with Peter Jackson due to the impressive digital work on the
Lord of the Rings films, and knew Peter Jackson's company
Weta WorkshopWeta Workshop is a special effects and prop company based in Miramar, New Zealand, producing effects for television and film.Founded in 1987 by Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger as RT Effects, Weta Workshop has produced creatures and makeup effects for the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys...
would make his vision a reality.
Jackson has planned to direct a sequel based on the books
The Seven Crystal BallsThe Seven Crystal Balls is the thirteenth of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero....
and
Prisoners of the SunPrisoners of the Sun is the fourteenth of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero. It is a continuation of The Seven Crystal Balls, and is one of very few Tintin...
, after he is finished working on The Hobbit, with tentative plans for himself and Spielberg to co-direct a third film probably based on the books
Cigars of the PharaohCigars of the Pharaoh is one of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums, written and illustrated by Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero...
,
The Blue LotusThe Blue Lotus , first published in 1936, is one of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums written and illustrated by Hergé featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero. It is a sequel to Cigars of the Pharaoh, with Tintin continuing his struggle against a major gang of drug...
and
Tintin in TibetTintin in Tibet is the twentieth title in the comic book series The Adventures of Tintin, written and drawn by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Originally serialised from September 1958 in the French language magazine named after his creation, Le Journal de Tintin, it was then first published in book...
.
Current and future projects
Jackson had talked of producing films for others as early as 1995, but a number of factors slowed developments in this regard, including the failure of
Jack Brown GeniusJack Brown Genius is a New Zealand romantic fantasy film directed by Tony Hiles and written by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh.-Synopsis:Modern genius-inventor Jack Brown is pitted against a medieval monk who forces him to rebuild his ancient wing system....
(1995). After he became a force in Hollywood, he was set to produce a $128 million movie version of the science fiction video game series
HaloHalo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
, but the project went on hold when financial backers withdrew their support. The failure of Halo however led to what became
District 9District 9 is a 2009 South African science fiction thriller film directed by Neill Blomkamp. It was written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James...
, which ended up being a box office hit and garnered a Best Picture nomination.
Jackson is set to produce a remake of
The Dam BustersThe Dam Busters is a 1955 British Second World War war film starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany with Wallis's...
, to be directed by longtime
WetaWeta Workshop is a special effects and prop company based in Miramar, New Zealand, producing effects for television and film.Founded in 1987 by Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger as RT Effects, Weta Workshop has produced creatures and makeup effects for the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys...
designer Christian Rivers and for which
Stephen FryStephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
has written a screenplay.
Jackson has also won the rights to a film adaptation of the fantasy novel series
TemeraireThe Temeraire series of novels by Naomi Novik is composed of His Majesty's Dragon , Throne of Jade, Black Powder War, Empire of Ivory, Victory of Eagles, and Tongues of Serpents...
, a novel about dragons being used in combat in the Napoleonic Wars and a dragon named Temeraire and his captain, Will Laurence, written by
Naomi NovikNaomi Novik is an American novelist. She is a first-generation American; her father is of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry, and her mother is an ethnic Pole. She studied English Literature at Brown University, and holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from Columbia University...
. It remains to be seen if he will direct it.
Jackson produced
District 9District 9 is a 2009 South African science fiction thriller film directed by Neill Blomkamp. It was written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James...
, a science fiction project which
Neill BlomkampNeill Blomkamp is an Afrikaner-Canadian film and advertisement writer and director. Blomkamp employs a documentary-style, hand-held, cinéma vérité technique, blending naturalistic and photo-realistic computer-generated effects. He is best known as the co-writer and director of critically acclaimed...
directed. The script was written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell.
In recent years, Jackson has also directed a short film entitled
Crossing the LineCrossing the Line is a 2008 short film by Peter Jackson set in World War I. It is the first film made with the Red One camera. The film has no dialog apart from the incidental speech of background characters....
to test a new model of digital cinema camera, the RED ONE. The film takes place during World War I, and was shot in two days. "Crossing the Line" was shown at NAB 2007 (the USA National Association of Broadcasters). Clips of the film can be found at Reduser.net.
Jackson and his newly formed studio Wingnut Interactive are working on an unrevealed project being developed by
Microsoft Game StudiosMicrosoft Studios is the video game production wing for Microsoft, responsible for the development and publishing of games for the Xbox, Xbox 360, Games for Windows and Windows Phone platforms. They were established in 2002 as Microsoft Game Studios to coincide with the release of the Xbox, before...
in collaboration with Bungie Studios. The project has been officially titled
Halo: Chronicles but beyond speculation little else is known about its nature. He was to be the executive producer on a
Halo film, developed and released by
Universal StudiosUniversal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
and
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
but in October 2006 the film was postponed indefinitely. The film was never officially cancelled and in late June 2008 Peter Jackson commented that, "With upcoming developments (Halo: Chronicles), I wouldn't know when to expect a movie, and I'm the producer."
Jackson spent $5 million to purchase 20 hectares of land in
WairarapaWairarapa is a geographical region of New Zealand. It occupies the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service towns, with Masterton being the largest...
, a property containing a mansion, private lake, tunnel and the interior of Bag End from
The Lord of the Rings. In 2009, he purchased a Gulfstream G550 jet; his total
net worthIn business, net worth is the total assets minus total outside liabilities of an individual or a company. For a company, this is called shareholders' preference and may be referred to as book value. Net worth is stated as at a particular year in time...
is estimated by
National Business ReviewThe National Business Review is a weekly New Zealand newspaper aimed at the business sector. The paper is owned by Barry Colman who also publishes the Grocers Review and several other small trade publications....
at
NZ$The New Zealand dollar is the currency of New Zealand. It also circulates in the Cook Islands , Niue, Tokelau, and the Pitcairn Islands. It is divided into 100 cents....
450 million. Jackson owns an aircraft restoration and manufacturing company, The Vintage Aviator, which is dedicated to World War I and World War II fighter planes among other planes from the 1920s and 1930s. He is chairman of the Omaka Aviation Heritage Trust, which hosts a biennial air show. In late December 2009 announced his interest on the movie adaption of the novel
Mortal EnginesMortal Engines is the first of four novels in Philip Reeve's quartet of the same name, which is also known as the Hungry City Chronicles in the United States...
. In April 2010 it was confirmed that he would be both director and producer of the project and as of May 2010 it is rumoured that WETA has already begun preliminary work on the movie.
The Hobbit
Jackson's involvement in the making of a film version of
The HobbitThe Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...
, has a long and chequered history. In November 2006, a letter from Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh stated that due to an ongoing legal dispute between Wingnut Films (Jackson's production company) and
New Line CinemaNew Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
, Jackson would not be directing the film. New Line Cinema's head
Robert ShayeRobert Kenneth Shaye , often referred to as Bob Shaye, is an American businessman, film producer, director and actor.-Early life:...
commented that Jackson "...will never make any movie with New Line Cinema again while I'm still working at the company...". This prompted an online call for a boycott of New Line Cinema, and by August 2007 Shaye was trying to repair his working relationship. On 18 December 2007, it was announced that Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema had reached agreement to make two prequels, both based on
The Hobbit, and to be released in 2012 and 2013 with Jackson as a writer and
executive producerAn executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
and
Guillermo del ToroGuillermo del Toro is a Mexican director, producer, screenwriter, novelist and designer. He is mostly known for his acclaimed films, Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy film franchise. He is a frequent collaborator with Ron Perlman, Federico Luppi and Doug Jones...
directing.
However, in early 2010, del Toro dropped out of directing the film because of production delays and a month later Jackson was in negotiations to direct
The Hobbit after all; and on October 15 he was finalised as the director—with New Zealand confirmed as the location a couple of weeks later. The film started production on March 20, 2011.
Games
Jackson is set to make games with
Microsoft Game StudiosMicrosoft Studios is the video game production wing for Microsoft, responsible for the development and publishing of games for the Xbox, Xbox 360, Games for Windows and Windows Phone platforms. They were established in 2002 as Microsoft Game Studios to coincide with the release of the Xbox, before...
, a partnership announced on 27 September 2006, at X06. Specifically, Jackson and Microsoft were teaming together to form a new studio called Wingnut Interactive. In collaboration with Bungie Studios, Jackson was to co-write, co-design and co-produce a new game taking place in the Halo universe - tentatively called
Halo: Chronicles. However on 27 July 2009, in an interview about his new movie
District 9, he said that
Halo: Chronicles had been cancelled, while Microsoft confirmed that the game is "on hold". Jackson's game studio Wingnut Interactive is now at work on original intellectual property.
Charitable activities
Jackson has given
NZThe New Zealand dollar is the currency of New Zealand. It also circulates in the Cook Islands , Niue, Tokelau, and the Pitcairn Islands. It is divided into 100 cents....
$500,000 to stem cell research.
He purchased a church in the Wellington suburb of Seatoun for about $10 million, saving it from demolition.
He also contributes his expertise to
48HOURS48HOURS is a film-making competition held through 8 major cities in New Zealand; Auckland, Hamilton, Gisborne, Rotorua, Taranaki, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. It involves teams of various sizes competing across New Zealand to write, shoot, edit and score the best short film, which must be...
, a New Zealand film-making competition, through annually selecting 3 "Wildcards" for the National Final.
Jackson, a World War I aviation enthusiast, is chair of the 14-18 Aviation Heritage Trust. He donated his services and provided replica aircraft to create a 10 minute multimedia display called
Over the Front for the
Australian War MemorialThe Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia...
in 2008.
He contributed to the defense fund for the
West Memphis ThreeThe West Memphis Three are three men who were tried and convicted as teenagers in 1994 of the 1993 murders of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. Damien Echols was sentenced to death, Jessie Misskelley, Jr. was sentenced to life imprisonment plus two 20-year sentences, and Jason Baldwin was...
In 2011, Jackson and Walsh purchased 1 Kent Place, the home of
BATS TheatreBATS Theatre is New Zealand's leading venue for the development of new theatre practitioners and plays. Most of the productions at Bats Theatre are New Zealand works...
in Wellington, effectively securing the theatre's future.
Style
Jackson is known for his attention to detail, a habit of shooting scenes from many angles, a macabre sense of humour, and a general playfulness - the latter to the point where
The Lord of the Rings conceptual designer Alan Lee jokingly remarked "the film is almost incidental really".
Jackson was a noted perfectionist on the
Lord of the Rings shoot, where he demanded numerous takes of scenes, requesting additional takes by repeatedly saying, "one more for luck". Jackson is also renowned within the New Zealand film industry for his insistence on "coverage" — shooting a scene from as many angles as possible, giving him more options during editing. Jackson has been known to spend days shooting a single scene. This is evident in his work where even scenes featuring simple conversations often feature a wide array of multiple camera angles and shot-sizes as well as zooming closeups on characters' faces. One of his most common visual trademarks is shooting close-ups of actors with wide-angle lenses.
Unlike some other film directors, Jackson has remained in his native country to make films. This has been the genesis of several production and support companies. Most of Jackson's assets are found on the
Miramar PeninsulaThe Miramar Peninsula is a peninsula at the southeastern end of the city of Wellington, New Zealand.The peninsula is 800 hectares and contains the suburbs of Miramar, Maupuia, Strathmore and Seatoun...
in his home town of
WellingtonWellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
where much of his filming occurs; and he was instrumental in having the world premiere of
The Return of the King in the city's iconic Embassy Theatre which he helped restore.
He was an early user of computer enhancement technology and provided
digital special effectsVisual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or...
to a number of Hollywood films by use of telecommunications and satellite links to transmit raw images and the final results across the Pacific Ocean.
During filming of
The Lord of the Rings, Jackson was famous for wearing shorts and going barefoot under most circumstances, especially during film shoots.
Cameo roles
Jackson usually makes
cameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s in his own films:
- In The Lovely Bones
The Lovely Bones is a 2009 American drama film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a film adaptation of the award-winning and best-selling 2002 novel of the same name by Alice Sebold. The film stars Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon, alongside Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz as Susie's parents Jack and...
, he appears as a customer in a camera store playing with a camera.
- Jackson appears as a biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
gunner attacking Kong in New York, reprising the cameo which original King Kong filmmaker Merian C. CooperMerian Caldwell Cooper was an American aviator, United States Air Force and Polish Air Force officer, adventurer, screenwriter, and film director and producer. His most famous film was the 1933 movie King Kong.-Early life:...
made in his 1933 film.
- The Lord of the Rings film trilogy includes multiple cameos. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Jackson plays a drunken, carrot-chomping citizen of Bree
Bree is a fictional village in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, east of the Shire and south of Fornost Erain. It is thought to have been inspired by the Buckinghamshire village of Brill, which Tolkien visited regularly in his early years at Oxford...
. In The Two Towers, he plays a spear-throwing defender of Helm's DeepIn J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings, Helm's Deep was a large valley in the north-western Ered Nimrais .The valley was described as being blocked over its entire width by the natural series of hills called Helm's Dike and behind that lay the fortress of Aglarond or the Hornburg, at the...
. In his significant cameo in The Return of the King he is seen as the boatswain of a murderous corsairCorsairs were privateers, authorized to conduct raids on shipping of a nation at war with France, on behalf of the French Crown. Seized vessels and cargo were sold at auction, with the corsair captain entitled to a portion of the proceeds...
ship. This character is seen very briefly in the theatrical version. In the extended version he is onscreen for a longer period of time and is accidentally killed by LegolasLegolas is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, featured in The Lord of the Rings. He is an Elf of the Woodland Realm and one of nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring.- Literature :...
's "warning shot". A detailed action figureAn action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
of Jackson was made of this character in the same line as the rest of the Lord of the Rings toys.
- Unbeknownst to many, Jackson actually makes two cameos in Return of the King. The other is seen during the scene of Shelob
Shelob is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. She appears at the end of the fourth book, second volume , of The Lord of the Rings.-Literature:...
's Lair, where Sam's arm (Jackson's) is seen entering the shot as Shelob is wrapping Frodo in webbing. This was due to Sean Astin's temporary absence, and Peter wanted to progress the production of the scene as much as possible, even without the actor.
- In The Frighteners, Jackson is a biker bumped into by Frank Bannister.
- In Heavenly Creatures, he is the bum who gets kissed by Juliet Hulme.
- In Braindead, he is the mortician's assistant.
- In the puppet movie Meet the Feebles, Jackson appears as an audience member disguised as one of the aliens from Bad Taste.
He has also made cameos in several films not directed by him. In the opening sequence of
Hot FuzzHot Fuzz is a 2007 British action dark comedy film written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, and starring Pegg and Nick Frost. The three had previously worked together on the 2004 film Shaun of the Dead as well as the television series Spaced...
(2007), he played a demented man dressed as
Father ChristmasFather Christmas is the name used in many English-speaking countries for a figure associated with Christmas. A similar figure with the same name exists in several other countries, including France , Spain , Brazil , Portugal , Italy , Armenia , India...
, who stabs Nicholas Angel (played by
Simon PeggSimon Pegg is an English actor, comedian, writer, film producer, and director. He is best known for having co-written and stared in various Edgar Wright features, mainly Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and the comedy series Spaced.He also portrayed Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the 2009 Star Trek film...
) in the hand.
Jackson's eldest son, Billy (born 1995), has made cameo appearances in every one of his father's films since his birth, namely
The Frighteners (1996),
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and
King Kong. His daughter, Katie (born 1996), appears in all the above films except
The Frighteners.
Jackson had a cameo on the HBO show
EntourageEntourage is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on HBO on July 18, 2004 and concluded on September 11, 2011, after eight seasons...
in 5 August 2007 episode, "Gary's Desk", in which he offers a business proposal to
Eric MurphyEric "E." Murphy is a fictional character on the comedy-drama television series Entourage. He is played by Kevin Connolly.-Fictional character biography:...
, manager to the lead character,
Vincent ChaseVincent "Vince" Chase is a fictional character on the comedy-drama television series Entourage. He is played by Adrian Grenier.-Personal life:...
.
Filmography
Director
| Year |
Title |
Oscar nominations |
Oscar wins |
BAFTA nominations |
BAFTA wins |
Golden Globe nominations |
Golden Globe wins |
| 1976 |
The Valley The Valley is an amateur film made by then fifteen-year-old Peter Jackson in 1976 with his friends. It was strongly influenced by the films of Ray Harryhausen...
(short) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1987 |
Bad TasteBad Taste is a 1987 cult science fiction comedy horror film. Produced on a low budget, it is one of the first films directed by Peter Jackson. The film features Jackson and his friends taking a number of key roles, both on and off-screen...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1989 |
Meet the Feebles Meet the Feebles is a 1989 black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson. It features Jim Henson-esque puppets in a perverse comic satire. Like Henson's Muppets, the Feebles are animal-figured puppets assembled together as members of a theatre troupe...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1992 |
Braindead (released in North America as Dead Alive) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1994 |
Heavenly CreaturesHeavenly Creatures is a 1994 film directed by Peter Jackson, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his wife Fran Walsh, about the notorious 1954 Parker-Hulme murder case in Christchurch, New Zealand. Filmed on location in Christchurch, it features Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet in their screen debuts...
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
| 1995 |
Forgotten Silver Forgotten Silver is a New Zealand film mockumentary that purports to tell the story of a pioneering New Zealand filmmaker. It was written and directed by Peter Jackson and Costa Botes, both of whom appear in the film in their roles as makers of the documentary.-Synopsis:Forgotten Silver purports...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1996 |
The Frighteners The Frighteners is a 1996 comedy horror film directed by Peter Jackson and co-written with his wife, Fran Walsh. The film's cast includes Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, John Astin, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace, Jake Busey and Chi McBride...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2001 |
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
13 |
4 |
12 |
4 |
4 |
|
| 2002 |
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers |
6 |
2 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
|
| 2003 |
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
|
11 |
11 |
12 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| 2005 |
King KongKing Kong is a 2005 fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a remake of the 1933 film of the same name and stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody. Andy Serkis, through performance capture, portrays Kong....
|
4 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
|
| 2008 |
Crossing the Line Crossing the Line is a 2008 short film by Peter Jackson set in World War I. It is the first film made with the Red One camera. The film has no dialog apart from the incidental speech of background characters....
(short) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2009 |
The Lovely Bones The Lovely Bones is a 2009 American drama film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a film adaptation of the award-winning and best-selling 2002 novel of the same name by Alice Sebold. The film stars Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon, alongside Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz as Susie's parents Jack and...
|
1 |
|
2 |
|
1 |
|
| 2012 |
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2013 |
The Hobbit: There and Back Again |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Producer
- Bad Taste
Bad Taste is a 1987 cult science fiction comedy horror film. Produced on a low budget, it is one of the first films directed by Peter Jackson. The film features Jackson and his friends taking a number of key roles, both on and off-screen...
(1987): Producer/Director
- Meet the Feebles
Meet the Feebles is a 1989 black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson. It features Jim Henson-esque puppets in a perverse comic satire. Like Henson's Muppets, the Feebles are animal-figured puppets assembled together as members of a theatre troupe...
(1989): Producer/Director
- Valley of the Stereos
Valley of the Stereos is a New Zealand film written by Costa Botes and George Port and produced by James Booth and Peter Jackson.-Plot:...
(1992 short): Co-producer
- Heavenly Creatures
Heavenly Creatures is a 1994 film directed by Peter Jackson, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his wife Fran Walsh, about the notorious 1954 Parker-Hulme murder case in Christchurch, New Zealand. Filmed on location in Christchurch, it features Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet in their screen debuts...
(1994): Co-producer/Director
- Jack Brown Genius
Jack Brown Genius is a New Zealand romantic fantasy film directed by Tony Hiles and written by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh.-Synopsis:Modern genius-inventor Jack Brown is pitted against a medieval monk who forces him to rebuild his ancient wing system....
(1996): Producer
- The Frighteners
The Frighteners is a 1996 comedy horror film directed by Peter Jackson and co-written with his wife, Fran Walsh. The film's cast includes Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, John Astin, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace, Jake Busey and Chi McBride...
(1996): Producer/Director
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001): Producer/Director
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002): Producer/Director
- The Long and Short of It
The Long and Short of It is a short film that was written and produced by Sean Astin. The five-minute film was shot in Wellington, New Zealand in a single day when the cast and crew of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers had reunited to shoot pick-ups...
(2003 short): Executive Producer
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
(2003): Producer/Director
- King Kong
King Kong is a 2005 fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a remake of the 1933 film of the same name and stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody. Andy Serkis, through performance capture, portrays Kong....
(2005): Producer/Director
- District 9
District 9 is a 2009 South African science fiction thriller film directed by Neill Blomkamp. It was written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James...
(2009): Producer
- The Lovely Bones
The Lovely Bones is a 2009 American drama film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a film adaptation of the award-winning and best-selling 2002 novel of the same name by Alice Sebold. The film stars Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon, alongside Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz as Susie's parents Jack and...
(2009): Producer/Director
- The Adventures of Tintin (2011): Producer
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012): Producer/Director
- The Hobbit: There And Back Again (2013): Producer/Director
Awards and nominations
| Year |
Award |
Category |
Title |
Result |
| 1995 |
Academy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
|
Best Original Screenplay |
Heavenly CreaturesHeavenly Creatures is a 1994 film directed by Peter Jackson, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his wife Fran Walsh, about the notorious 1954 Parker-Hulme murder case in Christchurch, New Zealand. Filmed on location in Christchurch, it features Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet in their screen debuts...
|
|
| 2002 |
Academy Awards |
Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
|
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
|
| 2002 |
Academy Awards |
Best Director |
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
|
| 2002 |
Academy Awards |
Best Adapted Screenplay |
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
|
| 2003 |
Academy Awards |
Best Picture |
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers |
|
| 2004 |
Academy Awards |
Best Picture |
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
|
|
| 2004 |
Academy Awards |
Best Director |
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
|
| 2004 |
Academy Awards |
Best Adapted Screenplay |
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
|
| 2010 |
Academy Awards |
Best Picture |
District 9District 9 is a 2009 South African science fiction thriller film directed by Neill Blomkamp. It was written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James...
|
|
| 2002 |
British Academy Film AwardsThe British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . It is the British counterpart of the Oscars. As of 2008, it has taken place in the Royal Opera House, having taken over from the flagship Odeon cinema on Leicester Square...
|
Best Film This page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language and Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for each year, in addition to the retired earlier versions of those awards...
|
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
|
| 2002 |
British Academy Film Awards |
David Lean Award for Direction Winners of the BAFTA Award for Best Direction presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.-2010s:* 2010 - David Fincher – The Social Network** Tom Hooper – The King's Speech** Danny Boyle – 127 Hours...
|
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
|
| 2002 |
British Academy Film Awards |
Best Adapted Screenplay The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for Best Adapted Screenplay has been presented to its winners since 1968:-1980s:1983: Heat and Dust – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala*Betrayal – Harold Pinter...
|
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
|
| 2003 |
British Academy Film Awards |
Best Film |
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers |
|
| 2003 |
British Academy Film Awards |
David Lean Award for Direction |
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers |
|
| 2004 |
British Academy Film Awards |
Best Film |
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
|
| 2004 |
British Academy Film Awards |
David Lean Award for Direction |
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
|
| 2004 |
British Academy Film Awards |
Best Adapted Screenplay |
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
|
| 2002 |
Critics' Choice Award |
Best Director |
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
|
| 2004 |
Critics' Choice Award |
Best Director |
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
|
| 2006 |
Critics' Choice Award |
Best Director |
King KongKing Kong is a 2005 fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a remake of the 1933 film of the same name and stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody. Andy Serkis, through performance capture, portrays Kong....
|
|
| 2002 |
Directors Guild of America Award |
DGA Award - Motion Pictures Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures is one of the annual awards given by Directors Guild of America.-1940s:* 1948: Joseph L...
|
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
|
| 2003 |
Directors Guild of America Award |
DGA Award - Motion Pictures |
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers |
|
| 2004 |
Directors Guild of America Award |
DGA Award - Motion Pictures |
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
|
| 2002 |
Golden Globe AwardThe Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
|
Best Director |
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
|
| 2003 |
Golden Globe Award |
Best Director |
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers |
|
| 2004 |
Golden Globe Award |
Best Director |
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
|
| 2006 |
Golden Globe Award |
Best Director |
King Kong |
|
| 1993 |
New Zealand Film and TV Award |
Best Director - Film |
Braindead |
|
| 1993 |
New Zealand Film and TV Award |
Best Screenplay - Film |
Braindead |
|
| 1995 |
New Zealand Film and TV Award |
Best Director - Film |
Heavenly Creatures |
|
| 2002 |
Producers Guild of America Award The Producers Guild of America Award was originally established in 1990 as the Golden Laurel Awards, created by PGA Treasurer Joel Freeman with the support of Guild President Leonard Stern, in order to honor the visionaries who produce and execute motion picture and television product...
|
PGA Award - Motion Pictures |
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
|
| 2003 |
Producers Guild of America Award |
PGA Award - Motion Pictures |
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers |
|
| 2004 |
Producers Guild of America Award |
PGA Award - Motion Pictures |
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
|
| 2010 |
Producers Guild of America Award |
PGA Award - Motion Pictures |
District 9 |
|
| 1997 |
Saturn Award The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
|
Best Director The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Direction:-Multiple Winners:*James Cameron - 5 awards*Steven Spielberg - 4 awards*Peter Jackson - 3 awards*Bryan Singer - 2 awards...
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The Frighteners The Frighteners is a 1996 comedy horror film directed by Peter Jackson and co-written with his wife, Fran Walsh. The film's cast includes Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, John Astin, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace, Jake Busey and Chi McBride...
|
|
| 1997 |
Saturn Award |
Best Writing The following is a list of people who have won the Saturn Award for Best Writing.-Multiple Winners:*James Cameron - 3 awards*Christopher Nolan - 3 awards*William Peter Blatty - 3 awards-External links:* http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html#writing...
|
The Frighteners |
|
| 2002 |
Saturn Award |
Best Director |
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
|
| 2002 |
Saturn Award |
Best Writing |
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
|
| 2003 |
Saturn Award |
Best Director |
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers |
|
| 2003 |
Saturn Award |
Best Writing |
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers |
|
| 2004 |
Saturn Award |
Best Director |
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
|
| 2004 |
Saturn Award |
Best Writing |
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
|
| 2006 |
Saturn Award |
Best Director |
King Kong |
|
| 2006 |
Saturn Award |
Best Writing |
King Kong |
|
| 1995 |
Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
|
Best Original Screenplay The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay is one of the three film writing awards given by the Writers Guild of America Award....
|
Heavenly Creatures |
|
| 2002 |
Writers Guild of America Award |
Best Adapted Screenplay |
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
|
| 2004 |
Writers Guild of America Award |
Best Adapted Screenplay |
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
|
Jackson was appointed a Companion in the
New Zealand Order of MeritThe New Zealand Order of Merit is an order established in 1996 "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions or other merits."The order includes five...
, in the 2002 New Year Honours. In 2010 he was advanced to Knight Companion of New Zealand. The investiture ceremony took place at
Premier HousePremier House, on Tinakori Road in Wellington, New Zealand, is the official residence of the Prime Minister of New Zealand.The original building, constructed in the early days of the New Zealand colony in 1843 is located at the southern end of the current building, and was greatly expanded two...
in Wellington on 28 April 2010.
See also
- Cinema of New Zealand
New Zealand cinema, can refer to films made by New Zealand-based production companies in New Zealand. However, it may also refer to films made about New Zealand by filmmakers from other countries...
- List of New Zealand film makers
- Park Road Post
Park Road Post is a 10,200 m² motion picture post production facility, located in Miramar, New Zealand, a suburb of Wellington. Formerly the state-owned National Film Unit, the new facility was renamed Park Road Post upon completion in 2005...
- Weta Workshop
Weta Workshop is a special effects and prop company based in Miramar, New Zealand, producing effects for television and film.Founded in 1987 by Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger as RT Effects, Weta Workshop has produced creatures and makeup effects for the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys...
- Weta Digital
Weta Digital is a digital visual effects company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was founded by Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, and Jamie Selkirk in 1993 to produce the digital special effects for Heavenly Creatures. In 2007 Weta Digital’s Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, Joe Letteri, was...
External links