Peter Jackson says Amazon ghosted him above the rings of power

• Peter Jackson said Amazon wanted to get him involved in “The Rings of Power” series before ghosting him.
• The “Lord of the Rings” director told The Hollywood Reporter that the studio offered to send him scripts.
• Although he never heard back, Jackson said he still looks forward to watching the show.

“Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson said Amazon tried to get him involved in the upcoming prequel series “The Rings of Power” but never sent him any scripts.

Jackson talked about the incident in an episode of his The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcastwhich aired on Thursday.

“I was asked if I wanted to join — [writer-producer Fran Walsh] and I — and I said, “That’s an impossible question to answer without seeing a script.” So they said, “Once we get the first two scripts, we’ll send them to you.” And the scripts never showed up,” he explained.

The Oscar-winning director said it was the last thing he heard from the studio, but insisted he had “no complaints” and is looking forward to seeing the series from a new angle.

“I’m going to watch it. I’m not the type to wish for bad vibes. Filmmaking is hard enough. If someone makes a good movie or TV show, it’s something to celebrate,” Jackson said. “The only thing I’m looking forward to is seeing it as a completely neutral viewer.”

In a statement to THRAmazon Studios said the new series should be kept separate from the film trilogy, which is owned by Warner Bros.

“In pursuing the rights to our show, we were obligated to keep the series separate and distinct from the films,” the studio wrote. “We have the utmost respect for Peter Jackson and The Lord of the Rings films and are thrilled that he is looking forward to watching The Rings of Power.”

Representatives for Jackson, Amazon and Warner Bros. did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

THR reports that the estate of JRR Tolkein, who wrote “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” books, is involved in the Amazon series after the studio paid more than $250 million for the production rights to the series.

Sources described as “close to the project” note that the writer’s estate was not involved in the creation of Jackson’s trilogy — and that Jackson did not want to be involved in the TV show after criticizing the director’s film adaptations in the past.

According to GizmodoAmazon announced “The Lord of the Rings” prequel series in 2017. Entertainment Weekly reported in 2021 that the company is spending more than $464 million on the show’s first season, which takes place thousands of years before the events of Jackson’s films.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” premieres on Amazon Prime Video on September 2.