Amazon acquired the rights to a Lord of the Rings series months ago, and ever since, the studio has shown it's serious about doing this project some justice, to the tune of dropping upwards of half a billion on the show's overarching budget. Could that kind of money possibly help entice the man responsible for the franchise's cinematic success, Peter Jackson, to join the project? That would only be worth asking if Amazon is indeed interested in getting Jackson on board in some way...and it looks like that just might be the case.
The news that Amazon could be reaching out to Peter Jackson about its Lord of the Rings series would be as unsurprising as it is exciting, even if the fansite The One Ring is a bit shaky in terms of source validation. Without concrete details that lay out any specifics of any potential deals between Jackson and Amazon, it's hard to take the tweet as anything beyond the realm of common sense. After all, if Amazon intentionally wasn't looking to involve the same man who turned the Lord of the Rings film trilogy into Oscar gold before captivating audiences once again with his The Hobbit trilogy, it would be foolish. For all intents and purposes, Peter Jackson is almost as important to Lord of the Rings' pop culture popularity as creator J.R.R. Tolkien, so reaching out about getting him involved in some fashion had to have been a no-brainer priority.
Should Peter Jackson commit to the Lord of the Rings series, it'd be interesting to see how Amazon would look to involve him. After all, Jackson produced, directed, and was involved in the screenplay for both LOTR-related film trilogies. Bringing him on could potentially fill a lot of creative roles the show needs to fill, provided he's willing to commit to this type of project yet again. The last time Jackson worked in television, he directed the made-for-TV movie Forgotten Silver in 1995 -- and somehow still never a Doctor Who episode -- so he's not overly experienced in the medium. At the same time, he's incredibly familiar with the Lord of the Rings franchise, as well as filming projects with massive budgets, so it's not like Jackson would be completely out of his element in a project like this.
TheOneRing.net also mentioned that Jackson is just one name on a list of many creative types that Amazon is reaching out to, which is almost a somewhat obvious bit of news. If Peter Jackson isn't going to be involved, or if he'd take on a less direct role with the Lord of the Rings series, the company is going to want to reach out to any and all big-name directors and writers who can tackle a blockbuster series of this magnitude. The tweet didn't mention who else was being contacted, but one assumes they're looking for anyone with experience in the fantasy and action realms, with CGI knowledge also a likely priority.
Amazon's Lord of the Rings series is far off from a premiere of any sort, so keep it here with CinemaBlend for any and all updates regarding its development. For a look at upcoming Amazon shows on the horizon, visit our Amazon premiere guide. Those looking for a list of all things coming to television in 2018 can find what they need with our summer premiere guide.
