1 of 5

Write now Article Tools

Page 2 of 2

visit the stunning locations Jackson utilized. He must have single-handedly encouraged thousands of curious visitors to spend their holiday, and their cash, in New Zealand.

The next film Jackson committed to is perhaps the best known and most accomplished of all his work prior to Lord Of The Rings. Heavenly Creatures (1994) was the film that introduced a young, unknown Kate Winslet to the world. It is a tale of murder, mystery and intrigue, based on a shocking true story. Jackson injected a poignancy into this brutal, murderous narrative. He endeavored to capture the enticing fantasy world of the teenage girls who perpetrated the killings, achieving a dreamy, hyper-real world of imagination into which the overzealous murderesses stepped. Although undeniably fictionalized in parts, Jackson's approach, much like Truman Capote's true crime book In Cold Blood, appeared to penetrate the minds of the killers, pinpointing just what drove them to act as they did.

The Frighteners ( 1996) was a co-production between New Zealand and America, produced by special effects maestro Robert Zemeckis. It follows the story of a man with supernatural powers, who befriends ghosts and then gets them to haunt people in order to drum up business for his ghost-busting operation. On paper, it appeared to unite Jackson's affections for horror, comedy and FX, but the film failed to make much of an impact at the box office. It remains a interesting film for fans, and coincidentally stars John Astin, father of Sean (Samwise Gamgee in LOTR), as one of the ghosts.

Next came the ubiquitous success of Lord Of The Rings, a phenomenal achievement in film-making, which sealed Jackson's reputation as one of the greats. Peter Jackson, and his constant companion and collaborator (and also his wife) Fran Walsh achieved a trilogy of immense power and importance. Fran is obviously a hugely essential part of Jackson's success, credited as a writer on all of his big films. She prefers to stay out of the limelight, leading to some confusing moments on the LOTR's special feature documentaries on the DVDs. The actors and technicians are constantly referencing her input, and speak of her with an obvious love and reverence. However, it's quite forgivable for wondering just who they're all going on about, being as she made a conscious choice not to feature in any of the making of documentaries herself. Nevertheless, her influence is clearly considerable.

Following Lord of The Rings, Jackson returned to a project he'd had brewing for some time, a re-make of King Kong (2005). The budget now afforded Jackson meant he had the opportunity to produce a film of awesome scale, although some critics feel that less money would have forced a more creative telling of the story.

The future for Jackson is mapped out to a certain degree with projects he's already committed to. Next up is an adaptation of Alice Sebold's popular book The Lovely Bones. The inner machinations of this book bring to mind the possibility of Jackson recreating a Heavenly Creatures style fantasy world, although it obviously remains yet to be seen.

It has also just been announced that the award winning director of Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo Del Toro has been selected as Peter Jackson's choice to direct the upcoming Hobbit films, submerging an eager audience back into the fantasy realm of Middle Earth once more.

Sources: tbhl.theonering.net
imdb.com
hollywoodinsiderew.com

Learn more about this author, Michelle Strozykowski.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

• << previous page
• 1
• 2

Add your voice

Know something about Director profile: Peter Jackson?
We want to hear your view. Write now!