Peter Jackson Has Never Read a Comic Book and Will Not Make a Marvel Film
For you Peter Jackson fans hoping to one day see the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit director take on a big budget comic book movie, don't hold your breath. The director admits that he's never read a comic book in his life! This is shocking news for me, especially after seeing the kinds of movies that the director has made, you'd think he would have picked up a comic book sometime in his life, but nope. During an interview with Moviefone the director is asked about the kinds of films he is looking to make next, and this is what he said:
"I'm absolutely happy to make smaller films. It's what I want to do. Fran and I, and obviously with Philippa, we made 'Heavenly Creatures' as a chronicle of New Zealand. We're New Zealanders. 'Heavenly Creatures' was the last time we made a movie about our own culture. So we want to go back and make some New Zealand stories. I don't really like the Hollywood blockbuster bandwagon that exists right now. The industry and the advent of all the technology, has kind of lost its way. It's become very franchise driven and superhero driven. I've never read a comic book in my life so I'm immediately at a disadvantage and I have no interest in that. So now it's time for us to step back. We're heading towards something of that scale."
He continues by saying,
"So, yes, I'm not going to head off and do a Marvel film. So if I don't do a Marvel film, I don't have any other choice -- I've got to go make a small New Zealand movie!"
Makes me wonder if Marvel reached out to him at one point to direct a movie for them, since he mentioned them specifically. He's obviously not very into what is happening in Hollywood these days with the big superhero movies. He seems pretty dismissive of it.
I'd like to see what Jackson would do for a comic book movie, but I respect his stance. I think it's great that he's going to make smaller films. Hopefully he jumps back into the horror genre. I would absolutely love to see Jackson make another small budget horror movie!