Hobbit back in Jackson’s court
Peter Jackson has settled his long-running legal dispute with New Line and will make The Hobbit for the studio as originally planned. Jackson and his creative partner Fran Walsh have announced that they will…
Tag Archives: Peter Jackson
Film’s Future in Good Hands
Wall Street Journal film critic Joe Morgenstern paid Peter Jackson a visit at his Miramar studios on a recent trip to NZ. The pair discussed their favourite movies, the future of special effects and…
Jeweller Finds Wonderland in NZ
British jeweller Alice Hughes has created a range of bespoke pieces inspired by NZ plants and sea life. She established Alice in Wonderland Jewellery in 2004 after undertaking an apprenticeship in NZ, where she…
Weisz on board for Lovely Bones
Oscar-winning English actress Rachel Weisz has signed on for Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones. Weisz will play the mother of the film’s dead narrator, in a role that has been significantly expanded from…
DreamWorks nets Jackson
DreamWorks SKG has won a week-long Hollywood bidding war for Peter Jackson’s latest film. Jackson made his screen adaptation of Alice Sebold’s novel The Lovely Bones available on the open market last week,…
Jackson gets his game on
Peter Jackson has extended his relationship with Microsoft by signing on for two further film adaptations of the company’s computer games. Wingnut’s Jackson and Fran Walsh are currently executive-producing a film adaptation of the…
Another Classic Set for Edge Treatment
Peter Jackson is heading a big budget remake of classic British war film, The Dam Busters. Jackson will produce the movie, with fellow Kiwi and long time collaborator, Christian Rivers, making his directing…
When Denzel met Peter
Oscar winning actor Denzel Washington made a fleeting visit to Wellington in June to discuss a possible film project with Peter Jackson. According to Wellington’s Dominion Post, Washington wants Jackson’s Weta Workshop and Weta…
Wellington a Global Talent Magnet
A Cato Unbound essay by Richard Florida – The Future of the American Workforce in the Global Creative Economy – uses the Peter Jackson led Wellington film studios as an example of “a profound shift in…
The many facets of King Kong
Peter Jackson’s King Kong graced the cover of the January issue of Cinefex, America’s premiere cinema effects magazine. Inside is a 45-page in depth look at the incredibly detailed digital, physical and emotional…
A thing of wonder
Released in December, Peter Jackson’s King Kong has received near unanimous praise from critics and movie-goers around the world. “This new King Kong is a folie de grandeur with real grandeur; in its power,…
Kong is coming
Wired magazine’s October issue features a lavish 16-page look at Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong, due to hit cinemas this December. Wired examines the greatly anticipated film through an…
Capital meditation
Wallpaper magazine takes a look at the city-scapes of Wellington through the lens of legendary American photographer Stephen Shore – who had three pictures acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, New York…
Peter Jackson most powerful
Reports of the list of Hollywood’s power people compiled by Premiere magazine for their June issue have revealed that Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson is the most powerful. According to the reports,…
Miramar the Seat of Power
The June issue of Premiere magazine (US) named Peter Jackson the most powerful person in Hollywood, ahead of Steven Spielberg, Pixar animations duo Steve Jobs and John Lasseter, Tom Cruise, and Tom Hanks. According…
War at Gallipoli Re-activated
Peter Jackson and Wellington special effects edge-busters Weta Digital have used their expertise to restore the only film taken of the Anzacs at Gallipoli. The Lord of the Rings director has restored the film to the original…
My Favourite Ape
Compared with his work as an Oscar-winning director and the filmmaker behind the most popular trilogy in movie history, Peter Jackson’s first attempt to remake King Kong was by any measure amateurish. Jackson painted…
Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens are to develop the Alice Sebold novel The Lovely Bones as their next film after King Kong. Though “The Lovely Bones” is not on the order of…
Return of the cast
If Peter Jackson ever decides (and has the time) to make a film version of The Hobbit, he has the backing and blessing of his LotR cast. “People want it so much,” says actor…
Big shoes to fill
Peter Jackson unveiled some of his models and sketches for King Kong at the CineAsia movie convention in Bangkok. “It’s not a love story; it’s a story about love,” he told the convention audience,…
Wellywood in the Spotlight
The world’s eyes are on Wellington once again as production steps up on Peter Jackson’s King Kong remake. Jackson promises to make a “wonderful, mysterious adventure film” worthy of the iconic 1933 original, which…
Dissecting the Edge
Outside Online writer, Stephanie Pearson, takes a month-long tour of NZ, in a bid to discover “why everyone wants a piece of the Kiwi magic.” After interviewing a slew of overachievers, including Icebreaker’s Jeremy Moon, Peter Jackson,…
Addicted to Jackson
Empire offers hope to fans experiencing panic attacks at “the thought of a year without a Peter Jackson film.” Shooting on the next Jackson-helmed epic – King Kong – begins in August of this…
Kong
The three principal stars of Peter Jackson’s King Kong are raving about the film and its Wellington location before shooting has even begun. Adrien Brody: “The facilities here are incredible … I…
Shifting mythology
A study of Peter Jackson’s LotR trilogy by the University of Wales has been extended due to an unexpectedly large public response. More than 25,000 people from all over the world have completed the…
Miramar Mentor
Peter Jackson was ranked 20th in pay and 12th overall in Forbes’ annual Celebrity 100 List. The accompanying feature was full of praise for NZ’s newest national hero. “Filmmaker Peter Jackson – assiduously disheveled,…
Jackson Gets the Youth Vote
The Return of the King won the coveted prize for Best Film at this year’s MTV Awards in LA. Other big winners were Pirates of the Caribbean and Kill Bill Vol.1.
Professor Roy Crawford
The Guardian attributes Professor Roy Crawford leaving Queen’s University Belfast to take up the post of Vice Chancellor at Waikato University to NZ’s current It status: “Oh, Australia must be annoyed. For centuries it’s been top dog…
“For Many NZ is the New Utopia”
20 April 2004 – The flood of US immigrants seeking a better life in NZ continues – with good reason, according to a lengthy San Francisco Gate article. “It’s like California, it’s like San…
King of the Consoles
Peter Jackson has joined yet another elite Hollywood club: director’s who earn as much if not more from helping create video games as they do from making movies. Riding on the success…
King of the Castle
The Return of the King has ruled them all at this year’s awards season, having won Oscar glory with 11 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. The final film in the Lord…
Brothers in arts
An opinion piece in the Age asks: “Why don’t Australian and New Zealand arts sectors cooperate more?” The lengthy article examines the difference between the two nations in regards to arts funding, profiles the…
Crowning Glory
Return of the King – the third and final film in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings series – made a clean sweep of the 2004 Academy Awards, winning 11 Oscars including Best Picture…
Riding her wave of success
Whale Rider star, Keisha Castle-Hughes, spoke to the New York Post about her week spent in Hollywood prior to the 2004 Academy Awards – for which she was the youngest ever nominee in the…
Under Gollum’s skin
The latest must-have for LotR enthusiasts is Gollum: How We Made Movie Magic. Written by Andy Serkis who played Gollum in the trilogy the book includes extracts by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh,…
Would the real Middle Earth please stand up?
“Tolkien may have intended The Lord of the Rings as an epic myth for England, but even he would acknowledge … that the world of Middle-earth and the tiny nation of NZ had become…
The Verdicts
The usually art-house sympathetic New York Film Critics Circle chose Return of the King as their Best Film of 2003, The American Film Institute named the film in its top-10 of the year….
Praise the Lord
Peter Jackson: “‘He’s as cool as an elf, he has the heart of a hobbit, and he’s as mad as a wizard.’ That’s the awestruck opinion of Lord Of The Rings star…
Wetawood
Two LA Times features look at the phenomenal success of Peter Jackson’s Miramar-based empire; Weta Digital, Weta Workshop, and the Film Unit. The challenge meeting Jackson’s business is keeping the world-class staff he amassed…
Winning ways continue for Whale Rider
International plaudits continue to come for Niki Caro’s 2002 hit, Whale Rider. Whale Rider beat Hollywood blockbusters 28 Days Later and The Wild Thornberry‘s to win the feature film category at the 2003 Environmental…
The Price is Right
New York Times feature addresses Peter Jackson’s record-breaking US$20 million salary for Universal’s King Kong remake, deciding he is more than worth the dollars. Jackson, with his collaborative team of Fran Walsh and Phillippa…
Watt’s Up Jackson?
Peter Jackson has reportedly asked Australian actress Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive, The Ring) to play the female lead in King Kong, which begins shooting in Wellington this November.
A New Kind of Filmmaking: Blockbuster with Brains
Anticipating the release of Return of the King, NYT film critic Elvis Mitchell singles out the breezy braininess of Peter Jackson’s craft for exemplary praise: “Mr. Jackson has been carefully applying layers of emotional…
Rings wins double at Saturns
Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was a multiple winner at the 29th annual Saturn Awards – a joint presentation of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films and…
Wellywood Weighs In
An Anna Fifield Financial Times feature reviews the remarkable growth of the NZ film industry in the wake of its latest coup: Peter Jackson’s King Kong. “For the country’s film industry, the project marks…
Jackson (and NZ) goes ape
Watch out Sky Tower: Peter Jackson is to direct a remake of King Kong for Universal Pictures. The epic production will be filmed on location in NZ and released globally in 2005. Says an…
Jackson fan club continued…
Michael Scragow, former staff writer for The New Yorker and Rolling Stone, airs his opinions on this year’s Oscars. “I am just floored that Peter Jackson was not nominated for best director … I…
Winning-over Delhi bellies
The Taj Palace Hotel in Delhi held a NZ food festival in honour of The Two Towers‘ Indian release. The event, organised by the NZ Trade Commission, aimed to win the hearts of…
Crowe KO’s the Competition
Empire‘s 2003 awards had a strong NZ flavour, with Russell Crowe picking up Best Actor and Peter Jackson and The Two Towers winning Best Director and Best Film. In other Crowe news, the NZ-born…
Jackson cuts down
Peter Jackson has announced his next film project and it’s not The Hobbit or King Kong. Taking a much-needed break from the epic-scale, Jackson is rumoured to be adapting medical history for the screen…
Jackson in heavyweight division
Accolades continue to come thick and fast for Peter Jackson, the latest being a prestigious Directors Guild of America nomination. Jackson is up against Stephen Daldry (The Hours), Rob Marshall (Chicago), and heavyweights Roman…
Two Films Tower Over Rest
The Piano and The Fellowship of the Ring both made SMH‘s list of the top 100 movies of all time. “For the first time in a century, Hollywood was beaten in the big budget…
Precious Acclaim: Two Films Tower Over Rest
“For the first time in a century, Hollywood was beaten in the big budget fantasy stakes. Jackson and his team delivered better special effects and better story-telling in what could be the new millennium’s…
Pick of the critics
Peter Jackson has received a nomination for best director from the London Film Critics Circle for his work on Lord of the Rings. The prestigious awards are chosen by London reviewers and are to be presented…
Jackson: Hobbit or Wizard?
Boston Globe: “Who would have guessed that it would take a woolly bear horror-flick director from New Zealand to restore our faith in epic moviemaking?” Praise for Peter Jackson reaches epic proportions of…
Muss vs. Hollywood
“It is not just Lord of the Rings that is ushering in a golden age of Kiwi cinema. Everywhere you look, NZers are taking over Tinseltown.” From Peter Jackson, Lee Tamahori and Vincent Ward,…
