LORD OF THE RINGS Director Looking Ahead to KING KONG
February 24th, 2004
'Rings' Director Looking Ahead to 'King Kong'
New Zealander Peter Jackson has gone from making movies as a hobby to making movies about hobbits -- films that have helped him forge a filmmaking empire in New Zealand and build a reputation in Hollywood for pulling off the impossible.
On the eve of maybe landing his most precious prize yet -- an Oscar for directing "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" the last film in the "Rings" trilogy -- Jackson spoke with The Hollywood Reporter.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: WILL MAKING A SINGLE MOVIE LIKE "KING KONG" SEEM ANTICLIMACTIC AFTER "The Lord of the Rings"
Peter Jackson: From a logistical point of view, a single movie is much easier, but the main creative challenge of writing a good script and making a good movie remains as difficult as ever. I do think that having the experience of three huge films back-to-back behind us has given the "LOTR" crew and craftspeople a confidence that we can take on any project.
THR: WHAT KEY CHALLENGES DOES ITS FILMING PRESENT?
Jackson: Writing the script is always the most critical and difficult job. The actual filming shouldn't be too tricky once we assemble a great cast. Creating a strong emotional presence of Kong himself will be a challenge since he obviously won't be joining us on set.
THR: CAN YOU CONFIRM WHICH, IF ANY, "LORD OF THE RINGS" CAST AND CREW WILL BE INVOLVED WITH "KING KONG?"
Jackson: It's too early to say about cast, apart from Naomi Watts, who's now confirmed. We need to write for a few more weeks to establish exactly what type of other characters we are looking for. I'm hoping there will be suitable roles for one or two "LOTR" actors. As far as crew go, "LOTR" veterans include Jan Blenkin and Caro Cunningham, both of whom are producing "Kong" with me; Andrew Lesnie is on board as (director of photography); Grant Major is production designer; Dan Hennah is supervising art director. Both Weta Workshop, led by Richard Taylor, and Weta Digital have been at work on "Kong" for some months now. Howard Shore is doing the music. We are talking to all other crew at the moment and imagine the majority will be "LOTR" veterans.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
New Zealander Peter Jackson has gone from making movies as a hobby to making movies about hobbits -- films that have helped him forge a filmmaking empire in New Zealand and build a reputation in Hollywood for pulling off the impossible.
On the eve of maybe landing his most precious prize yet -- an Oscar for directing "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" the last film in the "Rings" trilogy -- Jackson spoke with The Hollywood Reporter.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: WILL MAKING A SINGLE MOVIE LIKE "KING KONG" SEEM ANTICLIMACTIC AFTER "The Lord of the Rings"
Peter Jackson: From a logistical point of view, a single movie is much easier, but the main creative challenge of writing a good script and making a good movie remains as difficult as ever. I do think that having the experience of three huge films back-to-back behind us has given the "LOTR" crew and craftspeople a confidence that we can take on any project.
THR: WHAT KEY CHALLENGES DOES ITS FILMING PRESENT?
Jackson: Writing the script is always the most critical and difficult job. The actual filming shouldn't be too tricky once we assemble a great cast. Creating a strong emotional presence of Kong himself will be a challenge since he obviously won't be joining us on set.
THR: CAN YOU CONFIRM WHICH, IF ANY, "LORD OF THE RINGS" CAST AND CREW WILL BE INVOLVED WITH "KING KONG?"
Jackson: It's too early to say about cast, apart from Naomi Watts, who's now confirmed. We need to write for a few more weeks to establish exactly what type of other characters we are looking for. I'm hoping there will be suitable roles for one or two "LOTR" actors. As far as crew go, "LOTR" veterans include Jan Blenkin and Caro Cunningham, both of whom are producing "Kong" with me; Andrew Lesnie is on board as (director of photography); Grant Major is production designer; Dan Hennah is supervising art director. Both Weta Workshop, led by Richard Taylor, and Weta Digital have been at work on "Kong" for some months now. Howard Shore is doing the music. We are talking to all other crew at the moment and imagine the majority will be "LOTR" veterans.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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