Peter Jackson Explains the Personal Loss That Kept Him From Making a New Movie for Over a Decade
For more than a decade, fans have wondered why Peter Jackson hasn’t returned to directing a narrative feature film. Now, the filmmaker is opening up about the deeply personal reason behind that long absence, and it’s a lot more emotional than you might’ve expected.
Jackson’s name is forever tied to Middle-earth. He directed The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001, followed by The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in 2002 and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003.
That trilogy didn’t just redefine fantasy filmmaking, it reshaped blockbuster cinema. He later went back to that world with The Hobbit trilogy, wrapping up his last narrative feature film with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in 2014.
Since then, Jackson hasn’t disappeared entirely. He’s stayed creatively active with documentaries like They Shall Not Grow Old and The Beatles: Get Back — The Rooftop Concert. Still, The Battle of the Five Armies remains the last story-driven film he’s made, and now we know why.
With The Lord of the Rings trilogy returning to theaters for a limited run tied to the 25th anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring, Jackson recorded a new introduction for Return of the King.
In that segment, he addressed the loss that quietly altered his career path: the death of his longtime collaborator and friend Andrew Lesnie, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 59.
“That was a terrible blow to me, losing Andrew,” Jackson said. “It wasn’t a conscious decision because after that I made a documentary using old footage, and then I made a documentary about The Beatles, using old footage they had shot.
“And looking back I realize that I’ve avoided doing drama films because I’d have to work with someone else who isn’t Andrew, and I think his death changed my creative path. The result is that for 11 or 12 years, I haven’t made a drama film because that would require me to build a relationship with another DP.”
Lesnie wasn’t just a cinematographer Jackson worked with often. He was a creative partner across The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, and The Hobbit films. Losing that connection clearly left a void Jackson wasn’t ready to fill, and rather than force himself forward, he shifted toward projects built from existing footage where that collaboration wasn’t required.
The good news is that Jackson doesn’t see this chapter as permanent. He made it clear that a return to narrative filmmaking is still part of his future.
Jackson said that he “will” come back to directing feature films and that the “day is getting closer,” even though he admits “it’s certainly taken [him a long time to get there.”
For fans who’ve been waiting years to see what Peter Jackson might do next with a fictional world, this explanation adds a lot of context. It isn’t about burnout or lack of interest. It’s about grief, loyalty, and the difficulty of moving forward after losing someone who helped define your creative voice.
When Jackson does return, it’ll be on his own terms, and that makes whatever comes next even more meaningful.