Sir Peter Jackson has not directed a major Hollywood movie since 2014’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, but the filmmaker has insisted he is “certainly not retired”
Sir Peter Jackson has dismissed claims he’s hung up his director’s hat, insisting he’s “certainly not retired” from filmmaking.
The 63-year-old movie maestro, renowned for his work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, last directed a major Hollywood film with 2014’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. However, Jackson has now revealed he’s been busy penning not one, but three screenplays, putting to rest any notions of retirement.
When quizzed by Screen Rant about his directing career, Jackson responded: “No, no. I’m certainly not retired. We are currently working on three different screenplays. I’m at the moment writing three different scripts.”
In addition to his writing endeavours, Jackson is also donning his producer’s hat for The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which will see the inimitable Andy Serkis reprise his iconic role as the titular character and take the reins as director.
Jackson shared: “We are producing and have been writing The Hunt for Gollum, which Andy Serkis is going to direct next year.”
The acclaimed director also touched on his recent work on documentaries, including the Get Back The Beatles project, admitting he’s thoroughly enjoyed exploring different creative avenues.
He said: “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.”
However, Mortensen – who famously portrayed the character in The Lord of the Rings trilogy – has not yet committed to reprising his role as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.
Scriptwriter Philippa Boyens revealed to The Playlist: “The Hunt for Gollum is set during The Fellowship of the Ring era, shortly before Frodo Baggins departs the Shire for Rivendell.”
She added, “And it kicks off with Gandalf dispatching Aragorn on a quest to locate Gollum, who the wizard fears might spill the beans about the One Ring to Sauron, so Viggo Mortensen’s involvement is key.
“But will he come back? Honestly, that’s entirely going to be up to Viggo, collaboratively and we are at a very early stage.
“I’ve had a chat with Viggo, Andy has spoken to him, Peter has spoken to him, we’ve all had a natter and honestly, I can’t picture anyone else embodying Aragorn, but it will be completely and entirely up to Viggo.”
Jackson had previously justified the decision to delve deeper into Gollum’s character, as opposed to other iconic figures like Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) or Legolas (Orlando Bloom), with the upcoming spin-off film The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, set to hit theatres on December 17, 2027.
In an interview with Deadline, he explained: “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.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
