Recalling the two fantasy mythological franchises, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, acclaimed filmmaker Peter Jackson spoke about the similarities between the two epics. While just like the stand-alone book, even The Hobbit movie felt like an indie, Jackson drew certain comparisons with the book and mentioned changing a few aspects.
Further discussing how he was reluctant to direct The Hobbit, Peter Jackson willfully desecrated his previous creation, The Lord of the Rings. Dissecting his two franchise films, Jackson purposefully mentioned how The Hobbit made him feel The Lord of the Rings had a basic storyline.
Also read: The Hobbit Trilogy: Why It’s Worthy & Deserves More Respect
Peter Jackson Initially Hesitated Engaging With The Hobbit
After delivering the adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson discussed his experience of diving further into Tolkien’s standalone book, The Hobbit. Recalling the brilliance of the franchise, the acclaimed filmmaker, took a break from shooting to discuss his initial feelings and experience on the set.
Stating how he previously delivered The Lord of the Rings and was thus reluctant to dive back into such an epic, all over again, Peter Jackson spoke about The Hobbit. Discussing his connection with the characters that brought him back to the director’s chair, Jackson claimed, “I never wanted to do The Hobbit in the first place”. However, after “starting to work up the characters”, Jackson mentioned “beginning to get connected to the material quite well.”
“The idea of having an ensemble of thirteen dwarves terrified me and I thought, well, it’s going to be much more interesting to have another filmmaker dealing with that I’ll just go with it and see what happens.” Peter Jackson explained.
Eventually, ending up on the set of The Hobbit, to bring forth J.R.R Tolkien’s epic story, the acclaimed filmmaker confessed how it felt good for him. “I like these guys now. Actually, I’m pleased it ended up the way it did.” Jackson confessed. Feeling overly connected with the characters, Jackson even mentioned changing certain aspects of the story, to add a hint of himself.
Peter Jackson Desecrated His The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Getting engaged with the story of The Hobbit, Peter Jackson recalled his previous epic franchise from the same writer, The Lord of the Rings. While Jackson was initially reluctant to direct The Hobbit, he soon changed his mind and even ended up desecrating his greatest creation because of the standalone story.
Discussing with Collider, Peter Jackson mentioned how he was terrified to engage himself with the project, as he considered it “a nightmare”. However, when he was asked to compare his two franchises, Jackson shockingly put a dagger through fans’ hearts by calling The Lord of the Rings “pretty basic” in comparison to The Hobbit.
“Lord of the Rings was incredibly good and evil, black and white. The world was at stake, Sauron. It was pretty basic, and the tension that was involved in the story.” Peter Jackson stated.
He further hailed the story of The Hobbit and mentioned how much more fun it was to direct the project. Condemning how The Hobbit “has a slightly more of a fairy tale quality, slaying dragons and going for gold,” Jackson expressed his love for the franchise. Further discussing his style of filmmaking, he mentioned, “I wanted to keep it pretty consistent and keep everything feeling like it’s the same world”.
In the end, if it is left to his viewers, Peter Jackson created two epic franchises that ended up being classics in the world of fantasy.
Watch The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings franchises on HBO Max.
Source: Collider
