Peter Jackson has broken his silence on Amazon's billion-dollar 'Lord Of The Rings' series, confirming that he has no involvement with it beyond helping to put together the creative team for it.
In an interview with French outlet Allocine, Jackson admitted how his name came up in the mix, but dashed any hope of his involvement. "I understand how my name could come up, but there is nothing happening with me on this project," stated Jackson. Fan website TheOneRing.net claimed an exclusive some weeks ago that Peter Jackson was in the mix for the series, claiming that he was "one of many currently pitching."
In a later interview with IGN Germany, Jackson further revised his statement, saying that Amazon have "very good intentions with it" and that he's involved - but only at a stretch.
"I would not want to be the one responsible for the entire TV series," explained Jackson, "simply because I’ve never been responsible for a (long-term) series like this before in my life. So it would not be very smart if I took on the role of showrunner. What I'm actually doing right now is putting the creative team (behind the series) together."
Jackson also shot down rumours that he's to join the DC Extended Universe, claiming that he doesn't even like comic books in the first place. "I’ve never read any, so I’m not particularly interested in adapting one for cinema," Jackson added, claiming that he has enough projects going to keep him busy.
Under the deal made by Amazon, production has to kick off pretty sharpish and a five-season commitment has been given to make it happen. Analysts are projecting the cost of $100 to $150 million per season, making it the most expensive television series ever mounted.
No release date has been set for the series as of yet.
