Man, remember when Peter Jackson was one of us nerds? Those were good days. Days that are apparently gone now, if this interview the man gave is to be believed.
Really, I should just sum up Moviefone’s interview with this blockquote and walk away. See if you can get through this without laughing derisively:
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.
Let’s see here, a guy who followed up a beloved trilogy with an unnecessary prequel trilogy and is now talking about making “smaller films” while insisting the studios have changed, maaaaaan. Gee, I can’t think of who else has been saying that for years.
It’s particularly outrageous coming from Jackson, of all people, the guy who tried to cram 48 fps down our throats despite the fact nobody could stand it. Heck, he spent most of the last decade basically redefining film technology and special effects just to get his signature trilogy made on budget. He’s about the last guy who should be complaining about movies being “technology driven,” forget complaining about franchises.
If that weren’t enough, here’s Jackson defending his tendency to leave everything in:
It’s a weird thing, even when you look at the reviews for this movie, people are still bitter about the breakfast scene from the first movie. They say, “It took so long.” Fair enough. But I always thought of these movies as a 7 hour film. So you look at it as, “Why are we spending the first quarter of this movie at a dinner scene?” Where I’m thinking that it’s not the first quarter it’s actually 1/16th of a thing.
Again, this sounds a little too familiar. It’s like he’s becoming a were-Lucas right before our eyes.
To some degree, it makes sense. Jackson is burnt out. He’s spent years making huge movies he didn’t want to bother with because he was contractually obligated to do so. He wants out from under, and it’s hard to blame him. That said, we’re researching cures for Lucasanthropy right now. Does anybody have the blood of a copyright attorney handy?
