Movie fans will again have stars in their eyes when The Lovely Bones gets the red carpet treatment at the Embassy Theatre. Two of the film’s biggest names – Oscar winner Susan Sarandon and nominee Saoirse Ronan – will attend the Kiwi premiere on December 14. New Zealand stars Rose McIver and Carolyn Dando are also expected to attend, along with Peter Jackson, who co-wrote, produced and directed the film. Fans will have the opportunity to collect autographs on the red carpet. The last major Hollywood film to have a Wellington premiere was Jackson’s King Kong in 2005, when thousands lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the stars. More..

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Filmmakers trying to satisfy a U.S. movie rating aimed at mostly teenagers often complain that they’re forced to cut violent scenes, and those edits compromise the director’s vision. But Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson found he had the exact opposite problem with his eagerly-anticipated new film, “The Lovely Bones,” due in theaters on December 11. More..

Five years ago, while Peter Jackson was immersed in directing his large-scale remake of “King Kong” for Universal, executive Mary Parent mentioned a project the studio was developing based on the wildly popular video game “Halo.”

Jackson was intrigued. He loved to play “Halo” with his two teenage children; his special effects company, New Zealand-based WETA, seemed perfect to handle the FX; and a 15% tax rebate made a Kiwi shoot ideal for Universal and co-financier Fox. So Jackson agreed to produce, alongside his lifetime partner Fran Walsh and their colleague Carolynne Cunningham. Jackson would not direct, but he would find a promising young helmer to work under his supervision. When Parent suggested Neill Blomkamp, based on a short film of his she’d seen, the South Africa-born filmmaker left his home in Vancouver and flew to meet the Jackson team. More..

From english.people.com.cn: U.S. producer-director Peter Jackson is expected to be in China in late November to promote his latest project – “District 9,” which will be released across the country on Nov. 27, the Oriental Morning Post reports. The director of the “Lord of Rings” series will visit Beijing and Shanghai to interact with moviegoers. Exhibitions of his films will also be presented in the two cities, the report said.

“District 9,” made on a tight budget of 30 million U.S. dollars, has proved to be a box office dark horse in the U.S. market with total earnings of over 115 million dollars since it rolled out on Aug. 14.

What exactly is going on with the two-part adaptation of The Hobbit? The world seems to be holding its breath in anticipation, including us, but as the calendar turned to November, we turned to a trusted rock-solid inside source and found a dragon’s treasure of updates. Read the rest of this entry »

Peter Robert Jackson, CNZM (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker, producer and screenwriter, best known for The Lord of the Rings trilogy adapted from the novel by J. R. R. Tolkien. He is also known for his 2005 remake of King Kong and as the producer of the critically acclaimed film District 9.

He won international attention early in his career with his “splatstick” horror comedies, before coming to mainstream prominence with Heavenly Creatures, for which he shared an Academy Award Best Screenplay nomination with his partner, Fran Walsh. Jackson has been awarded a total of three Academy Awards in his career. Visit: http://thebastards.info/

Kiwi movie mogul Peter Jackson has co-directed the latest Tintin movie via the internet from his Wellington base. Actor Nick Frost, who plays one of the bumbling Thompson twin detectives, said Jackson gave his cast instructions via the world wide web which were then played on a PA system. Co-director Steven Spielberg was on set in California to coordinate the filming.

“Steve would come on and give a note and then through the PA system you would hear Peter say, ‘Hi guys, could you try this’, and then they would turn the camera around so that we could see him. It was strange,” Frost said. More..

Trevor Hogg at Flickeringmyth.com has put together a comprehensive and well written profile of director Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings trilogy). For those new to his cinematic career, this is a look at Jackson’s work from the very beginning. Read the first part here and part two here.

Say whatever you wish about James Cameron or his movies (”Terminator 2,” “Aliens,” “Titanic” “The Abyss”) but he doesn’t play things safe. He showcased some 3-D footage of the upcoming “Avatar” (December 18) at this summer’s Comic-Con and then in one of the convention’s all-time highlights, took the stage with Peter Jackson to talk about technology, film and the future. Our friends at Weta have been heavily involved and will share some credit or blame for the success or failure of his latest, risky $230 million film. Dana Goodyear at The New Yorker has an excellent profile of the film director with a dose of Weta thrown in. Read it here

Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson’s new movie The Lovely Bones has been chosen for this year’s Royal Film Performance. Jackson said he is “honoured” it has been selected, adding its making has been “an extraordinary journey”. The world charity gala is due to take place in late November in London’s Leicester Square. The movie, based on Alice Sebold’s best-selling book, stars Susan Sarandon and Rachel Weisz. More..