- Born
- Nicknames
- PJ
- Pete
- Height5′ 4¾″ (1.65 m)
- Sir Peter Jackson made history with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, becoming the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King were nominated for and collected a slew of awards from around the globe, with The Return of the King receiving his most impressive collection of awards. This included three Academy Awards® (Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture), two Golden Globes (Best Director and Best Motion Picture-Drama), three BAFTAs (Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film and Viewers' Choice), a Directors Guild Award, a Producers Guild Award and a New York Film Critics Circle Award.
As a follow up to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, in 2005, Jackson directed, wrote, and produced King Kong, for Universal Pictures. The film grossed over $500 million and won three Oscars®.
Jackson previously received widespread acclaim for his 1994 feature Heavenly Creatures, which received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Screenplay. Other film credits include The Frighteners, starring Michael J. Fox; the adult puppet feature Meet the Feebles; and Braindead, which won 16 international science fiction awards, including the Saturn. Jackson also co-directed the television documentary Forgotten Silver, which also hit the film festival circuit.
Jackson directed the Academy Award®-nominated The Lovely Bones, an adaptation of the acclaimed best-selling novel by Alice Sebold and produced the worldwide sci-fi hit District 9. He was a producer on Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn in 2011, with two more films set to come out in the future.
His most recent films include producer of 2018's action film Mortal Engines, based on a post-apocalyptic world where cities ride on wheels and consume each other to survive. Following Mortal Engines, he produced They Shall Not Grow Old, a documentary on World War I with never-before-seen footage. BAFTA nominated the film for Best Documentary, and it won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing from the Motion Picture Sound Editors.
Jackson's next project is the music documentary The Beatles: Get Back, which he directed and produced, due to be released August, 2021.
Jackson works closely with partner Dame Fran Walsh, with whom he shares his writing and producing credits, as well as a family. Jackson has a special interest in WWI memorabilia and is the proud owner of several aircraft from that era.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Weta Studios Official Site Bio
- SpouseFran Walsh(1987 - present) (2 children)
- Children
- Parents
- His films frequently conclude with a bloodbath, e.g.: the lawnmower with the zombies in Dead Alive (1992), and the murder of Honora Parker in Heavenly Creatures (1994).
- Frequently set his movies in Wellington, New Zealand
- Likes to make cameo appearances in his movies: the morgue assistant in Dead Alive (1992), the homeless man in Heavenly Creatures (1994), the dude in The Frighteners (1996), the drunk in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), the guy throwing a spear in Helm's Deep in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and the Corsair Leader in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).
- Always writes his scripts with his real-life partner Fran Walsh
- In his movies, there's frequently a fake documentary: the Christ church footage in Heavenly Creatures (1994), The Murders & Psychos documentary in The Frighteners (1996), the Colin McKenzie biographical film in Forgotten Silver (1995) and Lord of the Piercing (2002) (on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Region 1 extended edition DVD).
- Credits his favorite movie King Kong (1933) as his biggest inspiration in filmmaking. He said that he cried when King Kong fell off the Empire State Building.
- Both of his parents passed away during production of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
- Has been referred to by Fran Walsh as being a hobbit himself, due to his physical stature, his tendency to go barefoot, and the fact that he is swarthy (in Walsh's words, "furry").
- Peter Jackson is the third director (after James Cameron and Christopher Nolan) to have released two films that have grossed $1 billion worldwide during their run. His films were The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012).
- Estimated earnings from the Lord of the Rings trilogy come close to $125 million.
- New Zealand is not a small country but a large village.
- What I don't like are pompous, pretentious movies.
- On Meet the Feebles (1989): I have a moronic sense of humour.
- On horror: I don't take stuff seriously. I saw Hellraiser III the other day at Cannes; it's okay, it's a good film, I didn't hate it or anything. I thought it was quite good, but it was all just so serious. Some guy walking round with pins sticking out of his face. I just can't sit there and think, "This is really scary." If I made a Hellraiser film, I'd like Pinhead to be whacked against a wall and have all the pins flattened into his face. I immediately start thinking of funny things and gags - that's just the way I am. I doubt I could ever control myself sufficiently to make a serious horror film.
- [on "The Lord of the Rings"]: This is a giant undertaking, but I consider this a personal film. It's my film of a lifetime. I read the book when I was 18 years old and thought then, "I can't wait till the movie comes out." Twenty years later, no one had done it - so I got impatient.
- King Kong (2005) - $20,000,000 + 20% of the gross (to be shared with co-writer/producer Fran Walsh & co-writer Philippa Boyens)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) - $10,000,000 + gross points (this salary is for all 3 films)
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