'The Rings of Power' Discontinued? Director Peter Jackson GHOSTED by Team for Upcoming Prequel Series
With fans already waiting and hyped up to go back to Middle Earth, "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson claims that he was ghosted by the makers of the upcoming "The Rings of Power" prequel series.
Based on the literary universe written by J.R.R. Tolkien, the "Rings of Power" will be set two centuries before the events of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". The series will take place during "The Second Age" of Middle Earth from Tolkien's stories when the forging of the Rings of Power and the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron will be played as a cinematic masterpiece.
The series' trailer premiered during the 2022 Super Bowl, and will be produced by Amazon Studios, along with Tolkien Estate, Trust, HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema.
Peter Jackson guested on an episode of The Hollywood Reporter's "Awards Chatter" podcast on August 4, where he was asked if he wanted to be involved in the project. "That's an impossible question to answer without seeing a script." the 60-year-old film director answered.
"So they said, 'As soon as we get the first couple scripts, we'll send them to you.' And the scripts never showed up. That's the last thing I heard." Jackson added.
In November 2017, Amazon bought the television rights for "The Lord of the Rings" for 250 million dollars, with plans to make a five-season production commitment. The project was reported to have "TV's most expensive series with 5 seasons" with a budget of 1 billion dollars, even more expensive than HBO's "Game of Thrones".
'The Rings of Power' Discontinued?
Fortunately, fans no longer have to hold their breath amidst the controversy as Amazon Studios finally responded to Jackson's claims. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, they clarified that while they hold director Jackson in high regard, it was still a complicated setup and had to keep things private first for legal reasons.
"In pursuing the rights for our show, we were obligated to keep the series distinct and separate from the films," Amazon responded.
The award-winning "Lord of the Rings" director said that he had no complaints at all about what happened, and that "The one thing I am looking forward to is actually seeing it as a perfectly neutral viewer."
"I'll be watching it. I'm not the sort of guy who wishes ill will. Filmmaking is hard enough." Jackson added.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is set to launch on September 2, 2022 on Amazon Prime.
