Peter Jackson explains why he didn’t direct The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum: “I could have directed it”
The producer explains why he believes the actor-turned-director is best suited to tell Gollum’s story.
A new film inspired by ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is in development. ‘The Hunt for Gollum’ takes us to a place never before seen in the films, but it has an interesting twist. This will be the first time since the release of the films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s books that the project won’t be directed by Peter Jackson, who has passed the baton to Andy Serkis, the actor who plays Gollum himself.
Although Jackson will be involved in these films on the production side, he had not previously explained why he would not be directing them. Now, during the Cannes Film Festival (via Variety), the director spoke about the reasons behind this change regarding the upcoming films in the franchise.
“I could have directed it but I just thought, ‘I’ve done it,’” Jackson said. “And it’s not because of me that I thought, ‘I’ve done it, I thought it would be more interesting... [if] Gollum himself, Andy Serkis, directed it. Because the film is pretty much an internal story about Gollum’s psychology and addiction. It’s a very personal story to Gollum, the character, and I thought that Andy knows this guy better than anybody. So I actually didn’t really think much of me at all. I thought the most exciting version of this movie is if Andy Serkis makes it because he’s going to put Gollum’s psychology on screen like you can’t imagine.”
“I’m leaving him to it,” Jackson said. “I’m there to help if I can help, if I can be of assistance at certain times, I’m there. But I’m giving him as much freedom as I can, because giving Andy freedom to make that movie will result in the best possible film.”
An Expansion in the World of ‘The Lord of the Rings’
‘The Hunt for Gollum’ will feature the return of some characters (and actors) we’ve seen before, with Ian McKellen reprising his role as Gandalf and Elijah Wood as Frodo, while Jamie Dornan will now take on the role of Aragorn in a prequel to ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’. Filming has already begun in New Zealand.
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‘The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum’ is due to land in theaters on December 17, 2027.
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