After the reported war between new line and Peter Jackson over 
some creative issues surrounding the production and marketing of 
the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jackson has gone off to build a 
filmmaking empire in his native country of New Zealand. There he 
has set up headquarters and managed to bring together a team of 
experts and the top of the line talent in the film industry.

On his latest project, the highly anticipated remake of King 
Kong, he has chosen to work with Naomi Watts from 21 Grams and 
the recent Best Actor Oscar-Winner Adrian Brodey, and let’s not 
forget the always satisfying Jack Black in a turn as a film 
director.

While many may criticize Jackson for his overusage of special 
effects, he has gathered a huge fan base and following mainly 
because of his faithful adaptation of the beloved Lord or the 
Rings novel.

There are really just a handful of filmmakers in Hollywood these 
days who have everything they need at their disposal. They are 
the Cecile B. DeMille’s of today and to whom only imagination can 
be limiting – and even then they can hire the best writers in the 
industry. Jackson stands on a pedestal right next to Spielberg, 
Lucas and James Cameron.

This is bringing us back to a time when directors were auteur 
instead of simple button pushers like most TV directors. "When 
you make a movie with a big ship in the middle of the ocean, you 
know that you’ve made it at the top of the list in Hollywood. If 
you think about it Spielberg made Amistad, Jackson made King Kong 
and do we need to mention James Cameron’s ship movie?" says 
Stewart Greensberg, a film studio analyst.

There is so much power going around that sometimes you feel that 
it’s limited and monopolized by the ones on top and it’s not 
accessible to anyone else. While some filmmakers have truly 
worked their way to the top like Spielberg, others have gained 
power and success almost overnight with a great big movie like 
Titanic or Passion of the Christ.

Peter Jackson was not a famed director – he had previously made 
the Frighteners with Michael J. Fox – with a few minor films, but 
what truly brought him into the great wide spaces was the risk he 
took with the three films. The Weinsteins originally wanted him 
to make one big movie, but he was the one who pulled away to keep 
the integrity of the novel.

While he is also rumored to have also had a hand in the making of
a few independent films such as Crash and Machiavelli Hangman, 
Jackson concentrates mainly on his epic productions that keep him 
on his toes and push him to take more risks everyday. 

Rachel Streets is the Editor-in-Chief 
of magazine online. Machiavelli Hangman:
http://www.hangmanmovie.com