"That time of year" has carried a double-meaning over the last two years, and this December is no different. In less than a week, Peter Jackson's Return of the King makes general release. I'll undoubtedly be wedged - Row Eight, Middle - inside a packed theater some time before next weekend. I may even offer a few words of review. For the time being, I've got an advance, inside glance at not only the movie but Peter Jackson himself. My friend OX, in Los Angeles, accepted a general invite to members of the [Directors] Guild that was sent over e-mail and, in turn, found himself at a closed screening with none other than Peter Jackson. He sent a brief recounting of the experience:
So I saw Return of the King. Wow. I'm an average fan of the trilogy and not a fan of the genre in general. Fantasy has always been something I've left up to you and Ed.But I tell you, I was blown away by this third movie. Almost brought to tears in the final 20 minutes. I don't know how this doesn't win best picture.
Then Peter Jackson came out at the end for a Q&A.
He was wearing a wrinkled black sports coat and black pants with stains on the knees. He had on a collared striped shirt that was way too tight for him. He looked fatter than I have ever seen him. And his beard looked like a lion's mane. I loved it!
Jackson talked about the specifics of the book to movie adaptation in the Q&A. I haven't read the book so most of it went over my head.
The most interesting thing he was saying was how he came to the project.
He had just finished this movie Frighteners and had bought hundreds of thousands of dollars in CGI and computer technology. He wanted to use his new computers on his next movie so he started brainstorming potential ideas with his wife (and long time screenwriter/producer/creative collaborator) that could utilize special effects. They kept referring back to LOTR. "We need a story with the fantasy of LOTR, we need a story with an alliance like LOTR, we need to have the depth of LOTR." Jackson said it finally got to the point where he was wondering what was happening with the actual rights to LOTR and he placed his first call to his agent about acquiring the rights in 1995. The rest is history.
He's making $20 million off the top on his next film, King Kong, and 20% of the gross (the highest paid director ever).
Jackson seemed like the nicest man in the room, totally accommodating every question and as enthusiastic as a kid. I've become a big fan of his overnight.
Demski saw him at another screening the following night and he was wearing the same clothes and was as equally gracious.
Well, I'm impressed. Nearly everyone has a few niggling issues with the movie; for me, departures from the first two books are distracting, and I wish Jackson's sequences could have been acted and edited to reflect Spielbergian rhythm, a certain seamlessness. But between what looks to be a powerfully successful finale and a creator of the series who shows more than a little promise and vision beyond, we might all do well to set our most demanding expectations aside.