Posted on:: March 1st, 2004
Miramax (owned by Disney) acquired the rights to The Lord of the Rings in 1996 but backed out of the deal in 1998 when Peter Jackson presented his budget. New Line Cinema (owned by Time Warner) stepped in and, under producer Barrie Osborne, stepped up to the plate. The three installments cost a toal of $270M to produce, and that’s before marketing costs were added, not to mention the vaseline budget for the cameras filming Liv Tyler.
So, here’s a toast to the money guys who said Yes to a director whose pitch must have gone something like this:
I’d like to film one of the most beloved and jealously protected literary properties in history.
I’d like to turn it into a sword-and-dwarves epic that will run somewhere between 9 and 11 hours.
I plan on shooting the largest, most complex battle scenes in history. And you can trust me based on my work in Heavenly Creatures.
We’ll have to invent the most convincing CGI effects ever. In fact, the pivotal character will be made entirely of pixels. And you can trust me to bring true humanity to the art of digital acting based on my breakthrough work in Meet the Feebles.
A work of this scale will require marshalling 25,000 people over the course of several years. And I think I proved my ability to do so with Valley of the Stereos.
All hail Peter Jackson! But thanks, for once, to the money people who took the leap with him.
[Cross-posted at BlogCritics.org]
Categories: misc dw
One other thing: he presented a good script. He and Fran and Philippa did their homework. Originally “the money people” said fine, two films. Jackson & Co managed to talk them into three.
Oscars
Shelley grumps: I’m happy for Peter Jackson, et al, but really. Could the Oscars have been any more boring? Christopher agrees, but provides detailed analysis,…
Actually, Heavenly creatures was a very good, if unnerving, pic.
I liked Heavenly Creatures, too. But would it inspire you to entrust the director to film some of the greatest battle scenes in the history of movies?
I second your hail. I’ll also add that it was an astounding achievement for Peter Jackson to film these movies in a tiny little country on the far side of the world, New Zealand. He basically exported Holloywood to NZ, employed thousands of kiwis (including the special effects team, Weta) and almost single-handedly re-energized the country. Brings a tear to my eye.
disclaimer: NZ is my home!
I heard that the entire thing – someone giving Peter Jackson hundreds of millions of dollars to make not one, not two, but three films – all came down to one bigwig at Newline. I heard him described as the last of big-time movie moguls. While other studios had handed over decision making to rooms full of marketers and demographers, this guy was there to listen to Jackson’s pitch and just say “go.” Just think how differently things could have turned out if a studio hadn’t given Jackson the kind of leeway and money he ended up having.
As a Moron and non-movie goer I ask sincerely: how well did the LOTR trilogy present Gnosticism as a model of Knowledge? How well does it represent Mysticism?
Jackson showed what he could do with a decent-sized budget with The Frighteners. Of course, Robert Zemeckis was involved in that film, which is how they got the money, but it certainly proved that Jackson knew what to do with the budget. It’s still a bit of a leap from that to LOTR, but not as big as the leap from his earlier work.
The original pitch for Lord of The Rings
Peter Jacksons pitch for the filming of Lord of The Rings as imagined by David Weinberger: I’d like to film…
All hail Peter Jackson!
The money behind LOTR .
I think Peter Jackson is the greast movie maker ever. I am so glad the stars were on his side when he asked the big guys for money. I just wish everyone was as lucky as he is.
Lord
http://www.lord-of-the-rings.org