The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson initially said he was not involved with Amazon’s billion-dollar show based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy series. But now, the Oscar-winning director said he may have some hand to play after all, if only in a consulting capacity.
Speaking to Metro, Jackson said he expects the writers of the new Amazon Lord of the Rings show to send Jackson and writing partner/producer Philippa Boyens some scripts for them to look over and potentially help out with. But Jackson and Boyens have not been involved with Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series as of yet because they’ve been deep at work on the new movie Mortal Engines, which they wrote alongside another Lord of the Rings veteran, Fran Walsh.
“I think they are going to send us some scripts when they have some scripts written, and see if we can figure out a way to help them or not,” Jackson said. “It’s not something we can jump in and get involved in, because we’re obviously busy with [Mortal Engines]. We don’t have any time.”
Jackson added: “They’ve been getting scripts written–until we see the scripts we won’t really know. But whatever, I wish them all the best. And if we can help them we certainly will try to figure out a way, but it’s a big task.”
For her part, Boyens stated that it’s probably for the best that Jackson and Boyens are not directly involved with Amazon’s new show. It’s important for Amazon’s show to be written by people who have “fresh eyes,” she said. The show’s writers are JD Payne and Patrick McKay; they have no previous TV writing credits, but neither did Game of Thrones writers D.B. Weiss and David Benioff before they wrote that show, and that seemed to work out pretty well.
Payne and McKay have been writing partners since high school when they were on the debate team together. In addition to the Lord of the Rings show, they are writing the upcoming Star Trek 4 and the new Jungle Cruise movie for Disney.
Jackson and Boyens both won the Oscar for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay for The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, so it makes sense that the writers of the new Lord of the Rings show would seek their input, even if it’s only in an advisory capacity.
The new Amazon Lord of the Rings show is based on Tolkien’s acclaimed body of fantasy writing. Amazon is making multiple seasons of the show, which will be produced in partnership with the Tolkien Estate, HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema.
Little is known about the story for Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show, but it’s been confirmed that it’s set in Middle-earth and will “explore new storylines” in the time before The Fellowship of the Ring.
One of the storylines in Season 1 could involve a young Aragorn. Given his age, it’s also possible that Gandalf could show up, but this is only speculation.
Per the reported terms of the agreement between Amazon and Lord of the Rings rights-holders, the show must enter production within two years, so we’re expecting more news soon.