Peter Jackson Turned Down Directing ‘Aquaman’ – Twice
Don’t even think about askingPeter Jacksonto direct a superhero movie, because he’s not interested. TheLord of the Ringsfilmmaker recently revealed that he’s not interested in directing a superhero film, so much so that he turned down the opportunity to directAquamantwice. To be fair, Jackson doesn’t say hehatessuperhero movies – just that he’d rather not spend his time making one.
Peter Jackson hasn’t directed a big scale feature film since 2014’sThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, and while he might return to blockbuster filmmaking again some day, don’t expect his next project to feature superheroes. Speaking withEmpire, Jackson revealed that in the past, Warner Bros CEO Kevin Tsujihara approached him about directingAquaman, and Jackson had to turn him down twice.
“He said, ‘Are you a fan ofAquaman?’ I said, ‘No.’ Six months later: ‘Peter, are you a fan ofAquaman?’ I said, ‘No, Kevin, I already told you this,'” said Jackson. He added: “I’m not a superhero guy…films are hard. I only want to make something that I have a deep passion for.” It’s hard to argue with that reasoning, and when you’re Peter Jackson, you can afford to pick and choose your projects.
As for when we can expect Jackson to get back to feature filmmaking, Jackson stated: “I don’t really anticipate making another theatrical film for a year or two.” It seems the only sort of comic book related content Jackson is interested in isTintin– a project he’s been attached to direct for years now.
Last year, arumor surfacedclaiming Jackson was mulling over a DCEU project. That was afterAquamanhad finished filming, which suggests that Jackson briefly dabbled with the idea of directing another superhero movie, or that the rumor was totally false. Based on Jackson’s comments here, I’m guessing the latter is the case.
Hobbitprequels aside (ugh), Jackson is a wonderful filmmaker, and I have no doubt he could’ve brought something interesting toAquamanhad he wanted the gig. But everything worked out for the best: James Wan ended up helming the film, and created a big, goofy, wildly enjoyable epic that ended up surprisingly almost everyone, and breaking box office records too.
In any case, I look forward to Jackson returning in “a year or two” – provided he’s not making moreHobbitsequels. In the meantime, his acclaimed Word War I documentaryThey Shall Not Grow Oldis now available on Blu-ray and digital.
