Was Jackson's Exclusion from Rings of Power Tolkien Estate's Doing?

Peter Jackson, who directed the Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy of the 2000s and the Hobbit trilogy a decade later, was not involved in any part of the creative process.

The Rings of Power serves as a prequel to the original Lord of the Rings storyline, placed in Middle-earth's Second Age, two millennia before Jackson's trilogy. Its first season has had mixed reviews from audiences after Amazon paid an absurd $250 million just for the show's rights before any development.

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Jackson told the Hollywood Reporter that he was asked early in development to be attached to the series before the studio abruptly ceased contact. Amazon responded, saying it was a little more complicated than that.

Jackson said that Amazon came to him, asking if he'd be interested in working on the project. He said that was "an impossible question to answer" before seeing a script, knowing the difficulty involved when drafting a Lord of the Rings script.

Amazon told him that they'd send over the first few scripts once they were written up. Jackson waited for them, but he never got them. He told the Hollywood Reporter that was the last time he heard from Amazon about the project.

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Amazon Studios gave a fairly vague response to Jackson's comments, saying that they had to keep The Rings of Power "distinct and separate" from the earlier films. They added that they have a lot of respect for Jackson as a filmmaker.

The Hollywood Reporter suggested that this statement was referring to the wishes of author J.R.R. Tolkien's estate. Their sources apparently say that his estate wanted no part of Jackson in the new project.

Given how he popularized Tolkien's franchise for a new era of fans (and won several Oscars along the way), it may seem odd that his estate would be against utilizing him for another Lord of the Rings project. But the Hollywood Reporter said it shouldn't be surprising that Amazon and Tolkien's estate would wish to separate from Jackson and his films. Christopher Tolkien, son of the legendary author, publicly attacked Jackson's films to the press. He claimed Jackson ruined his father's novels, turning them into soulless action movies.

Jackson told the Hollywood Reporter that he holds no negative feelings toward Amazon about the ghosting. He added that he was excited to see the series as a neutral fan and that any time a studio makes a quality film or show, all fans and filmmakers should celebrate.