Peter Jackson says he could have directed “Lord of the Rings: Hunt for Gollum,” but decided not to because he had already done that job before. Instead, the 3x Oscar winner said Tuesday at the Cannes Film Festival Rendez-Vous that the more interesting choice was to let Andy Serkis take the helm of the New Line project.
“I could have directed it, but I thought, I’ve done that,” Jackson said, adding that the story, which takes place between “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings,” works better with Serkis in charge. He said the film is an internal story about Gollum’s psychology and addiction, and that Serkis “knows this guy better than anybody.” The movie is scheduled to reach theaters on Dec. 17, 2027.
Jackson’s role is now producer, not director, and he said plainly, “I’m leaving it to him. I’m here to help where I can. But I don’t interfere. I’ve given him as much freedom as I can.” That marks a different arrangement from the original “Lord of the Rings” films, when Jackson helped define how Gollum would be brought to the screen. He said the character was first intended to be animated with Serkis providing the voice, but motion capture was adopted during production after Serkis became the eye-line for the other actors.
The stakes around the film are not just creative. Jackson also pushed back on the idea that Gollum could be viewed through the lens of artificial intelligence, saying, “Everyone is getting worried about AI. Gollum isn’t AI. He’s a motion-captured performance.” He said he does not believe the current awards climate would recognize a motion-capture performance, adding, “I don’t think it will happen, not in the current environment.”
Jackson’s comments also widened beyond Middle-earth. He said he is writing a new Tintin script with Fran, and recalled the original agreement on that franchise: “The deal was Steven (Spielberg) directs one, and I direct another.” He also said Guillermo del Toro was supposed to direct “The Hobbit” films and spent seven months in New Zealand preparing them before Warner Bros. had not yet greenlighted the project, after which del Toro moved on to other films rather than wait. Jackson said he still hopes to make a movie about the Dambusters Raid.
For now, the clearest answer is that Jackson is not stepping back from the world he helped build, but he is stepping out of the director’s chair. He is betting the next Gollum film works best when the character’s oldest interpreter is the one guiding the story.
