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100-608: The Frighteners is a 1996 supernatural comedy horror film directed by Peter Jackson and co-written with Fran Walsh . The film stars Michael J. Fox , Trini Alvarado , Peter Dobson , John Astin , Dee Wallace Stone , Jeffrey Combs , R. Lee Ermey and Jake Busey . The Frighteners tells the story of Frank Bannister (Fox), an architect who develops psychic abilities allowing him to see, hear, and communicate with ghosts after his wife's murder. He initially uses his new abilities to befriend ghosts, whom he sends to haunt people so that he can charge them handsome fees for "exorcising"

200-511: A 16 mm camera , and began shooting a film that later became Bad Taste . Jackson has long cited several films as influences. It is well known that Jackson has a passion for King Kong , often citing it as his favourite film and as the film that inspired him early in his life. Jackson recalls attempting to remake King Kong when he was nine. At the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con , while being interviewed alongside Avatar and Titanic director James Cameron , Jackson said certain films gave him

300-457: A Grim Reaper -like entity crush the heart of a man marked "38". Panicked, Frank flees and follows a heavenly light to the museum, where he discovers the number 39 victim. Frank fails to save the number 40 victim, newspaper editor Magda Rees-Jones—who accused him of Debra's murder—and the Reaper also kills The Judge. Realizing that the murders implicate him, Frank turns himself into the police. He

400-622: A spin-off film of the television series, Tales from the Crypt . With Jackson and Walsh's first draft submitted in January 1994, Zemeckis believed the film would be better off directed by Jackson, produced by Zemeckis and funded/distributed by Universal Studios . The visual effects were created by Jackson's Weta Digital , which had only been in existence for three years. This, plus the fact that The Frighteners required more digital effects shots than almost any movie made until that time, resulted in

500-607: A video game adaptation of the film, which released 21 November 2005 and was also a critical and commercial success. In 2007, Jackson directed a short film entitled Crossing the Line , to test a new model of digital cinema camera, the Red One . The film takes place during World War I , and was shot in two days. "Crossing the Line" was shown at NAB 2007 (the USA National Association of Broadcasters ). Clips of

600-471: A "kick". He mentioned Martin Scorsese 's crime films Goodfellas and Casino , remarking on "something about those particular movies and the way Martin Scorsese just fearlessly rockets his camera around and has shot those films that I can watch those movies and feel inspired." Jackson said the 1970 film Waterloo inspired him in his youth. Other influences include George A. Romero , Sam Raimi and

700-777: A 10-minute multimedia display called Over the Front for the Australian War Memorial in 2008. He contributed to the defense fund for the West Memphis Three . In 2011, Jackson and Walsh purchased 1 Kent Terrace, the home of BATS Theatre in Wellington, effectively securing the theatre's future. In 2012 Jackson supported the American Red Cross "Zombie Blood Drive" together with other famous artists such as The Black Keys band members and

800-399: A North American town. This period was a key one of change for both Jackson and Weta Workshop , the special effects company – born from the one-man contributions of George Port to Heavenly Creatures – with which Jackson is often associated. Weta, initiated by Jackson and key collaborators, grew rapidly during this period to incorporate both digital and physical effects, make-up and costumes,

900-526: A biennial air show. He owns a scale modeling company Wingnut Wings that specializes in World War I subjects. Wingnut Wings however closed in March 2020 with the ultimate fate of the company and its moulds not yet known. Jackson is known for his attention to detail, a habit of shooting scenes from many angles, a macabre sense of humour, and a general playfulness – the latter to a point that The Lord of

1000-475: A church in the Wellington suburb of Seatoun for $ 1.06 million, saving it from demolition. He also contributes his expertise to 48HOURS , a New Zealand film-making competition, through annually selecting 3 "Wildcards" for the National Final. Jackson, a World War I aviation enthusiast, is chair of the 14–18 Aviation Heritage Trust. He donated his services and provided replica aircraft to create

1100-417: A cynical con man, using his abilities to " exorcise " hauntings staged by ghosts in his employ: street gangster Cyrus, nerdy Stuart, and The Judge, an Old West gunslinger. While exorcising the home of physician Lucy Lynskey and her self-absorbed husband Ray, Frank notices the number "37" glowing on Ray's forehead. Ray later dies of a heart attack. As Frank helps Lucy communicate with Ray's ghost, he witnesses

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1200-517: A deal with the Embracer Group to produce a new series of Lord of the Rings live-action films. On 10 May, RNZ reported that Wellington would serve as the production hub for the new Lord of the Rings films. Jackson was set to make games with Microsoft Game Studios , a partnership announced on 27 September 2006, at X06 . Specifically, Jackson and Microsoft were teaming together to form

1300-412: A demonic creature and taken to Hell. In Heaven, Frank is reunited with Cyrus, Stuart, and Debra, who sends him back to Earth, telling him to be happy. Sometime later, Frank demolishes the unfinished house and starts a relationship with Lucy, who can now see ghosts. In addition, Peter Jackson cameos as a man with piercings, his son Billy is a baby in a bouncer, Melanie Lynskey cameos as the deputy who

1400-546: A documentary prepared by Jackson and WingNut Films originally for the Laserdisc release. The theatrical and director's cut were also made available in HD DVD in 2007 and Blu-ray in 2011. Supernatural film The film genre is part of several hybrid genres , including supernatural comedy films, supernatural horror films , supernatural religious films, and supernatural thriller films. Ghosts in cinema date back to

1500-566: A factory worker and housewife, and William "Bill" Jackson, a wages clerk – were immigrants from England . As a child, Jackson was a keen film fan, growing up on Ray Harryhausen films, as well as finding inspiration in the television series Thunderbirds and Monty Python's Flying Circus . After a family friend gave the Jacksons a Super 8 cine-camera with Peter in mind, he began making short films with his friends. Jackson has long cited King Kong as his favourite film, and around

1600-649: A famous scene in which he fights himself on top of a cliff. The film was finally completed thanks to a late injection of finance from the New Zealand Film Commission , after Jim Booth , the body's executive director, became convinced of Jackson's talent (Booth later left the commission to become Jackson's producer). Bad Taste debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May ;1987. Around this time, Jackson began working on writing

1700-529: A film adaptation of the novel Mortal Engines . In October 2016, Jackson stated that the film would be his next project, as producer and co-writer, once again alongside Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens . The film was directed by his long-time collaborator Christian Rivers . It stars Robert Sheehan , Hera Hilmar , Hugo Weaving , Jihae , Leila George, Ronan Raftery , and Stephen Lang . It premiered on 27 November 2018 in London, received negative reviews and

1800-414: A major change for Jackson in terms of both style and tone. The real-life 1950s Parker–Hulme murder case , in which two teenage girls murdered one of their mothers, inspired the film. It was Fran Walsh that persuaded him that these events had the makings of a movie; Jackson has been quoted saying that the film "only got made" because of her enthusiasm for the subject matter. The film's fame coincided with

1900-462: A more frantic Beetlejuice if Jackson's film weren't so wearyingly overcrowded. The Frighteners is not immune to overkill, even though most of its characters are already dead." Jeff Vice of the Deseret News praised the acting in the film, with the performances of Fox and Alvarado in particular, but said that there were also "bits that push the taste barrier too far and which grind things to

2000-512: A new Lord of the Rings film with the working title The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum . The film is intended to be released in 2026, with Andy Serkis directing from a screenplay written by Walsh, Boyens, Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou. The Hunt for Gollum is the first slate in a new Lord of the Rings film series developed through Warner Bros. label New Line Cinema . In February 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery had signed

2100-739: A new studio called Wingnut Interactive. In collaboration with Bungie , he was to co-write, co-design and co-produce a new game taking place in the Halo universe – tentatively called Halo: Chronicles . On 27 July 2009, in an interview about his new movie (as producer) District 9 , he announced that Halo: Chronicles had been cancelled, while Microsoft confirmed that the game is "on hold". In July 2009 Jackson's game studio Wingnut Interactive were said to be at work on original intellectual property. As of August 2023, there are no games released nor developed by Wingnut Interactive. In 2006, Jackson gave NZ $ 500,000 to embryonic stem cell research . He purchased

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2200-491: A number of Hollywood films. Jackson is one of the lead actors in two of his films: in Bad Taste , he plays two characters named Derek and Robert, even engaging them both in a fight. In the mockumentary Forgotten Silver , he plays himself. However, he appears in most films he directs, mostly in cameos, just as director Alfred Hitchcock had done: He has also made cameos in several films not directed by him. In

2300-426: A number of film scripts, in varied collaborative groupings with playwright Stephen Sinclair, writer Fran Walsh and writer/actor Danny Mulheron . Walsh would later become his life partner. Some of the scripts from this period, including a sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street , have never been made into movies; the proposed zombie film Braindead underwent extensive rewrites. Jackson's next film to see release

2400-412: A review of The Frighteners which claimed that the film was "built from the rubble of other people's movies". In the end, the case was not pursued further. Around this time Jackson's remake of King Kong was shelved by Universal Studios , partly because of Mighty Joe Young and Godzilla , both giant monster movies, that had already gone into production. Universal feared it would be thrown aside by

2500-735: A screeching halt", and that if "Jackson had used the restraint he showed in Heavenly Creatures , the movie could have "been the best of its kind". Critic Christopher Null praised the film, as he described it as a mixture between Ghostbusters and Twin Peaks . Michael Drucker of IGN said that although the film would not make Jackson's top five of movies, it "is a harmless and fun dark comedy that you'll enjoy casually watching from time to time". The Frighteners received mixed reviews from critics from Jackson's native country, New Zealand. Conversely, Todd McCarthy of Variety thought that

2600-406: A single scene. This is evident in his work where even scenes featuring simple conversations often feature a wide array of multiple camera angles and shot-sizes as well as zooming closeups on characters' faces. One of his most common visual trademarks is shooting close-ups of actors with wide-angle lenses. He was an early user of computer enhancement technology and provided digital special effects to

2700-475: A special effects company that had been in existence less than three years, the eighteen-month period for completing The Frighteners was largely stressful. Some shots were handled by a small New Zealand company called Pixel Perfect, many of whose employees would eventually join Weta Digital. Rick Baker was hired to design the prosthetic makeup for The Judge, portrayed by John Astin (the detachable jawbone

2800-400: A special prize because of the shots he used. Jackson attended Kāpiti College , where he expressed no interest in sports. His classmates also remember him wearing a duffel coat with "an obsession verging on religious". He had no formal training in film-making, but learned about editing, special effects and make-up largely through his own trial and error. As a young adult, Jackson discovered

2900-436: A two-film production, Jackson was later pressured to render the story as a single film, and finally overcame a tight deadline by making a last-minute deal with New Line , which was keen on a trilogy. Principal photography stretched from 11 October 1999 to 22 December 2000 with extensive location filming across New Zealand. With the benefit of extended post-production and extra periods of shooting before each film's release,

3000-423: A winged cherub who helps guard the cemetery, was deleted from the final cut . With digital effects work running behind schedule, Zemeckis convinced Wes Takahashi , an animation supervisor from visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic , to help work on The Frighteners . "The shots Zemeckis showed me were pretty remarkable," Takahashi reflected, "but there were still about 400 shots to do, and everyone

3100-416: A worldwide total of $ 29,359,216. The Frighteners ended up being a box office disappointment , mostly due to competition from Independence Day ; in interviews conducted years after The Frighteners ' release, Jackson commented he was disappointed by Universal's ubiquitous marketing campaign, including a poster which "didn't tell you anything about the picture", which he believed was the primary reason

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3200-444: A writer and executive producer and Guillermo del Toro directing. In early 2010, del Toro dropped out due to production delays and a month later Jackson was back in negotiations to direct The Hobbit ; and on 15 October he was finalised as the director – with New Zealand confirmed as the location a couple of weeks later. The film started production on 20 March 2011. On 30 July 2012, Jackson announced on his Facebook page that

3300-408: Is a selfish husband to his wife, Debra. During an argument, a drunk Frank crashes his car, and police later find Debra dead nearby with "13" carved into her forehead. Frank has no memory of the event, but the trauma grants him the ability to see the spirit world. In the present, Frank lives in the unfinished remnants of the house he was building for Debra. Wracked with guilt over her death, he has become

3400-498: Is briefly seen standing next to Lucy Lynskey, Byron McCrawerly plays Victim #38 and Angela Bloomfield plays Frank's deceased wife, Debra. Peter Jackson and co-writer Fran Walsh conceived the idea for The Frighteners in 1992, during the script-writing phase of Heavenly Creatures . Together, they wrote a three-page film treatment and sent it to their talent agent in Hollywood. Robert Zemeckis viewed their treatment with

3500-467: Is considered a overlooked work in Jackson's catalog. In 1964, in the town of Fairwater, Johnny Bartlett is executed for killing 12 people at a sanatorium, driven by his ambition to become the most prolific serial killer. His teenage lover, Patricia Ann Bradley, is treated as an accomplice and sentenced to prison. Many years later, she is released into her mother's care. In 1990, architect Frank Bannister

3600-513: Is interrogated by Milton Dammers, an eccentric and unstable FBI agent traumatized by years of torture and sexual abuse while working undercover with Satanic cults. Dammers is convinced that Frank killed Debra and is psychically inflicting the unexplained heart attack deaths in the town. Lucy visits Frank in jail and they bond over their shared losses. The Reaper attacks Lucy, the number 41 victim, and Cyrus and Stuart are killed defending her and Frank during their escape. Aware he cannot protect her from

3700-572: Is one of the longest shooting schedules ever approved by Universal Pictures. Six weeks into the shoot, cinematographer Alun Bollinger had a serious car accident. His replacement, John Blick, later alternated duties with Bollinger for much of the rest of the shoot. Location shooting primarily included Wellington and three weeks spent in Lyttelton . Interior scenes were compiled at Camperdown Studios in Miramar . Jackson's Weta Digital created

3800-419: Is still in love with Bartlett and summoned him from Hell to continue their murder spree. She kills her mother, while Frank and Lucy trap Bartlett in his urn and flee to the abandoned sanitorium, intending to use its chapel to banish him back to Hell. While Patricia and Dammers separately pursue the pair through the sanitorium, Frank experiences visions of the 1964 massacre, showing Patricia was actively involved in

3900-509: The Metro article Jackson criticised the Commission over funding decisions concerning a film he was hoping to executive produce, but refused to drop a client-confidentiality provision that would have allowed them to publicly reply to his criticisms. Jackson won the rights to film Tolkien's epic in 1997 after meeting with producer Saul Zaentz . Originally working with Miramax Films towards

4000-490: The Lord of the Rings series, and knew Peter Jackson's company Weta Digital would make his vision a reality. It received positive reviews and grossed $ 374 million at the box office. In December 2011, Spielberg said that a sequel was planned, but this time he would be in a producing role, with Jackson as director. Kathleen Kennedy said the script might be done by February or March 2012 and motion-captured in summer 2012, so that

4100-746: The New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002. He was later knighted (as a Knight Companion of the order) by Sir Anand Satyanand , the Governor-General of New Zealand , at a ceremony in Wellington in April 2010. In December 2014, Jackson was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Jackson was born on 31 October 1961 in Wellington and was raised in its far northern suburb of Pukerua Bay . His parents – Joan ( née Ruck),

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4200-453: The Tintin sequel would be made "at some point soon", although he intended to focus on directing two New Zealand films before that. The following year, Anthony Horowitz , who was hired as the sequel's screenwriter even before the release of the first film, stated that he was no longer working on the sequel, and was unsure if it was still being made. In June 2016, Spielberg confirmed that

4300-574: The mockumentary Forgotten Silver (1995). This ambitious made-for-television piece told the story of New Zealand film pioneer Colin McKenzie , who had supposedly invented colour film and 'talkies', and attempted an epic film of Salome before being forgotten by the world. Though the programme played in a slot normally reserved for drama, no other warning was given that it was fictionalised and many viewers were outraged at discovering Colin McKenzie had never existed. The number of people who believed

4400-474: The " splatstick " horror comedy Bad Taste (1987) and the black comedy Meet the Feebles (1989) before filming the zombie comedy Braindead (1992). He shared a nomination for Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay with his partner Fran Walsh for Heavenly Creatures , which brought him to mainstream prominence in the film industry. Jackson has been awarded three Academy Awards for The Lord of

4500-565: The 1970s witnessed a surge of low-budget supernatural/horror films. During the 1980s and beyond, ghost stories continued to evolve and appeal to the masses. Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson ONZ KNZM (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003) and the Hobbit trilogy (2012–2014), both of which are adapted from

4600-705: The New Zealand media tracking down the real-life Juliet Hulme, who wrote books under the name Anne Perry . Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet played Parker and Hulme, respectively. Heavenly Creatures was critically acclaimed and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards and made top ten of the year lists in Time , The Guardian , The Sydney Morning Herald , and The New Zealand Herald . The following year, in collaboration with Wellington film-maker Costa Botes, Jackson co-directed

4700-431: The Reaper as a human, Frank has Lucy induce a near-death experience by slowing his heart with drugs and placing him in a freezer. Dammers captures Lucy and leaves Frank to die permanently, but Frank's spirit rescues her and damages the pursuing Reaper's disguise, revealing him to be the spirit of Bartlett. While Frank recovers following his revival, Lucy warns her patient, Patricia, of Bartlett's return. Patricia reveals she

4800-524: The Rings conceptual designer Alan Lee jokingly remarked, "the film is kind of incidental, really". Jackson was a noted perfectionist on the Lord of the Rings shoot, where he demanded numerous takes of scenes, requesting additional takes by repeatedly saying, "one more for luck". Jackson is also renowned within the New Zealand film industry for his insistence on "coverage" – shooting a scene from as many angles as possible, giving him more options during editing. Jackson has been known to spend days shooting

4900-532: The Rings: The Return of the King (2003), including Best Picture , Best Director , and Best Adapted Screenplay . His other awards include three BAFTAs , a Golden Globe , two Primetime Emmy Awards and four Saturn Awards among others. His production company is WingNut Films , and his most regular collaborators are co-writers and producers Walsh and Philippa Boyens . Jackson was made a Companion of

5000-482: The Signature Series collection released a special edition. This includes the first release of the 12 minute longer "Directors Cut" plus the following extras: Feature commentary by director Peter Jackson 4 hour documentary 'The Making Of The Frighteners' directed by Peter Jackson featuring cast interviews, rehearsals, storyboarding, miniatures and special effects Deleted scenes Theatrical trailer The later DVD

5100-703: The Special Presentation at the BFI London Film Festival and followed by a question-and-answer session hosted by English film critic Mark Kermode . The film was created using original footage from Imperial War Museums ' extensive archive, much of it previously unseen, alongside BBC and IWM interviews with servicemen who fought in the conflict. The majority of the footage (save for the start and end sections) has been colourised , converted to 3D and transformed with modern production techniques to present detail never seen before. Before

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5200-655: The US). The film score was written and composed by Danny Elfman . It was released in 1996 on cassette and compact disc by MCA Records and Universal Records . The closing credits play a cover of Blue Öyster Cult 's " (Don't Fear) The Reaper " performed by New Zealand alternative rock band The Mutton Birds . The Mutton Birds version of the song had been previously released as a B-side to their single "She's Been Talking" released in 1996. The credits also feature " Superstar ", written by Bonnie Bramlett + Leon Russell and performed by Sonic Youth . The intended release date

5300-408: The age of nine he attempted to remake it using his own stop-motion models. Also, as a child Jackson made a World War II epic called The Dwarf Patrol seen on the Bad Taste bonus disc, which featured his first special effect of poking pinholes in the film for gun shots, and a James Bond spoof named Coldfinger . Most notable though was a 20-minute short called The Valley , which won him

5400-403: The cast of the show The Walking Dead . His property portfolio in 2018 was estimated at NZ$ 150 million. In 2009, he purchased a Gulfstream G550 jet registered ZK-KFB; his total net worth is estimated by National Business Review at NZ$ 450 million. In early 2014 he replaced his Gulfstream G550, with a Gulfstream G650 also registered ZK-KFB. In April 2014, the aircraft

5500-409: The director submitted a lengthy criticism of the commission for a magazine supplement meant to celebrate the body's 20th anniversary, criticising what he called inconsistent decision-making by inexperienced board members. The magazine felt that the material was too long and potentially defamatory to publish in that form; a shortened version of the material went on to appear in Metro magazine. In

5600-404: The eighteen-month period for effects work by Weta Digital being largely stressed. Despite a rushed post-production schedule, Universal was so impressed with Jackson's rough cut on The Frighteners , the studio moved the theatrical release date up by three months. The film was not a box office success, but received generally positive reviews from critics. The film gained a cult following and

5700-440: The era of World War II, with post-war romantic comedies frequently featuring apparitions. Initially, these supernatural entities were portrayed more as entertainers rather than frighteners. Notable examples include: By the mid-1940s, the narrative began to shift, portraying ghosts and the supernatural in more sinister contexts. Some films from this era merged the ideas of religion and the supernatural. The late 1950s through

5800-664: The film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times stated "Director Peter Jackson, at home with all kinds of excess in New Zealand, keeps everything spinning nicely, not even losing a step when the mood turns increasingly disturbing." Janet Maslin from The New York Times enjoyed The Frighteners , but "walked out the theater with mixed emotions," she commented that "Peter Jackson deserves more enthusiasm for expert, imaginative effects than for his live actors anyhow. These lively touches would leave The Frighteners looking more like

5900-628: The film can be found at Reduser.net. Jackson completed an adaptation of Alice Sebold 's bestseller, The Lovely Bones , which was released in the United States on 11 December 2009. Jackson has said the film was a welcome relief from his larger-scale epics. The storyline's combination of fantasy aspects and themes of murder share some similarities with Heavenly Creatures . The film ended up receiving generally mixed reviews and middling box office returns yet earned Stanley Tucci an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination. Jackson

6000-460: The film made him understand the importance of marketing. As of December 11, 2021, 67% of the 42 reviewers selected by review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave The Frighteners a positive review, and the average score is 6.2/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Boasting top-notch special effects and exuberant direction from Peter Jackson, The Frighteners is visually striking but tonally uneven." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave

6100-561: The film one star out of four, and felt that Jackson was more interested in prosthetic makeup designs, computer animation , and special effects than writing a cohesive storyline. Ebert and critic Gene Siskel gave it a "two thumbs down" rating on their TV show At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert . Chicago Reader critic Jonathan Rosenbaum , described the film's special effects as "ugly, aggressive" and "proliferating", saying that "trying to keep interested in [the special effects]

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6200-445: The film should have remained an episode of Tales from the Crypt . Critic James Berardinelli believed that although The Frighteners wasn't "a bad film", it was "a disappointment, following Jackson's powerful, true-life matricide tale, Heavenly Creatures ", and because of that " The Frighteners fell short of expectations by being just one of many in the long line of 1996 summer movies." Chicago Sun-Times ' Roger Ebert gave

6300-539: The film to commence pre-production on a $ 26 million budget in April 1994. The studio also granted Jackson and Zemeckis total artistic control and the right of final cut privilege . Jackson decided to film The Frighteners entirely in New Zealand. Zemeckis and Universal agreed on the condition that Jackson made New Zealand look similar to the Midwestern United States . Principal photography began on May 14, 1995, and lasted until November 16, which

6400-576: The film was not a financial success. Additionally, the film opened on the same day the Atlanta Summer Olympics began; when Jackson realized this and told the studio, they answered "'We don't think so; our research indicates that's not the case...' And I just thought how the hell do they know? There had only ever been three Olympic Games held in the United States in one hundred years!" Jackson acknowledged The Frighteners ' tone made it hard to pigeon-hole and sell, and his experience on

6500-475: The film's rating. Aware that he was meant to be delivering Universal a PG-13 rated film, Jackson tried his best to omit graphic violence as much as possible, but the MPAA still believed The Frighteners deserved an R rating. The Frighteners was released in the United States in 1,675 theaters, and opened at #5, earning $ 5,565,495 during its opening weekend, averaging $ 3,335 per theater. The film eventually grossed

6600-517: The film. New Line Cinema's head Robert Shaye commented that Jackson "... will never make any movie with New Line Cinema again while I'm still working at the company ...". This prompted an online call for a boycott of New Line Cinema, and by August 2007 Shaye was trying to repair his working relationship. On 18 December 2007, it was announced that Jackson and New Line Cinema had reached agreement to make two prequels, both based on The Hobbit , and to be released in 2012 and 2013 with Jackson as

6700-487: The first two areas normally commanded by Jackson collaborator Richard Taylor. The Frighteners was regarded as a box office failure. Film critic Roger Ebert expressed disappointment stating that "incredible effort has resulted in a film that looks more like a demo reel than a movie". In February 1997, Jackson launched legal proceedings against the New Zealand Listener magazine for defamation , over

6800-517: The ghost characters acting against a blue screen . The two elements would later be digitally composited into one shot with the use of split screen photography . Such sequences required precise timing from the cast as they traded dialogue with characters who were merely blank air. The hardest challenge for the digital animators at Weta was creating the Grim Reaper , which went through many transformations before finding physical form. "We set out with

6900-448: The ghosts. However, the spirit of a mass murderer appears posing as the Grim Reaper , able to attack the living and the dead, prompting Frank to investigate the supernatural presence. Jackson and Walsh conceived the idea for The Frighteners during the script-writing phase of Heavenly Creatures . Executive producer Robert Zemeckis hired the duo to write the script, with the original intention of Zemeckis directing The Frighteners as

7000-451: The increasingly improbable story provides testimony to Jackson and Botes' skill at playing on New Zealand's national myth of a nation of innovators and forgotten trail-blazers. The success of Heavenly Creatures helped pave the way for Jackson's first big budget Hollywood film, The Frighteners starring Michael J. Fox , in 1996. Jackson was given permission to make this comedy / horror film entirely in New Zealand despite being set in

7100-562: The intention of directing The Frighteners as a spin-off film of the television series, Tales from the Crypt (which he helped produce). Zemeckis hired Jackson and Walsh to turn their treatment into a full-length screenplay in January 1993. The husband and wife duo completed their first draft for The Frighteners in early-January 1994. Zemeckis was so impressed with their script, he decided The Frighteners would work better directed by Jackson, executive produced by Zemeckis and funded/distributed by Universal Pictures . Universal green-lighted

7200-470: The intention of doing the Reaper as a rod puppet , maybe shooting it in a water tank," Jackson commented. "We even thought of filming someone, dressed in costume, at different camera speeds." Test footage was shot with puppets and a man in a Reaper suit, but in the end, it was decided that using computer animation would be the easiest task. Another entirely computerized character called "the Gatekeeper",

7300-439: The latter he shared with wife Fran Walsh . The Frighteners also was nominated for Best Horror Film , and for its Special Effects , Make-up ( Rick Baker ) and Music ( Danny Elfman ). Michael J. Fox and Jeffrey Combs were also nominated for their work. "The Frighteners" was released on Laserdisc in 1996 in a standard release with Dolby surround on both Digital and Analog channels. In 1998 Universal Home Video as part of

7400-663: The movie would be on track to be released by Christmas 2014 or mid-2015. In February 2012, Spielberg said that a story outline for the sequel had been completed. In December 2012, Jackson said that the Tintin schedule was to shoot performance-capture in 2013, aiming for a release in 2015. On 12 March 2013, Spielberg said, "Don't hold me to it, but we're hoping the film will come out around Christmas-time in 2015. We know which books we're making, we can't share that now but we're combining two books which were always intended to be combined by Herge." In December 2014, Peter Jackson said that

7500-437: The murders. This helps Frank recall that Bartlett's ghost killed Debra, and Patricia carved the number into her forehead. Dammers unwittingly releases Bartlett from the urn before being killed by Patricia. Patricia fatally strangles Frank, but, as a spirit, he pulls her soul from her body and drags her to heaven, forcing Bartlett to follow them. Although Bartlett frees Patricia and attempts to return to Earth, they are consumed by

7600-560: The novels of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien . Other notable films include the critically lauded drama Heavenly Creatures (1994), the horror comedy The Frighteners (1996), the epic monster remake film King Kong (2005), the World War I documentary film They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) and the documentary The Beatles: Get Back (2021). He is the fifth-highest-grossing film director of all-time , his films having made over $ 6.5 billion worldwide. Jackson began his career with

7700-482: The opening sequence of Hot Fuzz (2007), he played a demented man dressed as Father Christmas , who stabs Nicholas Angel (played by Simon Pegg ) in the hand. Jackson's eldest son, Billy (born 1995), has made cameo appearances in almost every one of his father's films since his birth, namely The Frighteners , The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, King Kong , The Lovely Bones , and the third film of The Hobbit trilogy. His daughter, Katie (born 1996), appears in all

7800-476: The release of the first movie in the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring . There was a special showing of the film after her funeral. Universal Studios signed Jackson for a second time to remake the 1933 classic King Kong . The film was released on 14 December 2005 to critical acclaim and grossed around US$ 562 million worldwide. He also collaborated with game designer Michel Ancel from Ubisoft to make

7900-520: The screening, Jackson said, "This is not a story of the First World War, it is not a historical story, it may not even be entirely accurate but it's the memories of the men who fought – they're just giving their impressions of what it was like to be a soldier." Reviewing the film for The Guardian , critic Peter Bradshaw said: The film was broadcast on BBC Two on 11 November 2018. In late December 2009, Jackson announced his interest in

8000-422: The sequel was still in development, but Jackson is working on a secret project in the meantime. Jackson's involvement in the making of a film version of The Hobbit has a long and chequered history. In November 2006, a letter from Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh stated that due to an ongoing legal dispute between Wingnut Films (Jackson's production company) and New Line Cinema , Jackson would not be directing

8100-513: The series met with huge success and sent Jackson's popularity soaring. The Return of the King itself met with huge critical acclaim, winning all eleven Oscars it was nominated for, including Best Picture and Best Director . The film was the first of the fantasy film genre to win the award for Best Picture and was the second sequel to win Best Picture (the first being The Godfather Part II ). Jackson's mother, Joan, died three days before

8200-463: The shots to visual effects companies in the United States, but Jackson, for whom the film was a chance to show New Zealand filmmaking could stand alongside Hollywood, convinced Universal otherwise. Instead, The Frighteners received an accelerated release date, four months earlier than planned, and an additional $ 6 million in financing, with fifteen digital animators and computer workstations (some were borrowed from Universal and other effects companies in

8300-439: The special effects by Ray Harryhausen . Jackson's first feature was Bad Taste , a haphazard fashion splatter comedy which took years to make. It included many of Jackson's friends acting and working on it for free. Shooting was normally done on weekends since Jackson was then working full-time. Bad Taste is about aliens that come to earth with the intention of turning humans into food. Jackson had two acting roles including

8400-620: The studio". The documentary used the techniques developed for They Shall Not Grow Old to transform the footage with modern production techniques, and seeks to display a new side of a period in the Beatles' history usually remembered as highly conflictual. Most of the used footage was originally recorded for the 1970 Let It Be documentary . Clare Olssen and Jabez Olssen , respectively producer and editor of They Shall Not Grow Old , returned for this new project, with Ken Kamins, Jeff Jones and Jonathan Clyde as executive producers. The project

8500-467: The two higher budget movies. This period of transition seems not to have been entirely a happy one; it also marked one of the high points of tension between Jackson and the New Zealand Film Commission since Meet the Feebles had gone over-budget earlier in his career. Jackson has claimed the Commission considered firing him from Feebles , though the NZFC went on to help fund his next three films. In 1997,

8600-540: The two planned Hobbit movies would be expanded into a trilogy. He wrote that the third film would not act as a bridge between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings films, but would continue to expand The Hobbit story by using material found in the Lord of the Rings Appendices . On 16 October 2018, Jackson's documentary about the First World War , They Shall Not Grow Old , was premiered as

8700-608: The visual effects, which included computer-generated imagery , as well as scale models (which were necessary to make Lyttelton look American), prosthetic makeup and practical effects with help from Weta Workshop . Visual effects supervisor Richard Taylor explained that effects work on The Frighteners was complex due to Weta's inexperience with computer technology in the mid-1990s. Prior to this film, Weta worked largely with physical effects . With so many ghosts among its main cast, The Frighteners required more digital effects shots than almost any movie made up till that time. For

8800-516: The work of author J. R. R. Tolkien after watching The Lord of the Rings (1978), an animated film by Ralph Bakshi that was a part-adaptation of Tolkien's fantasy trilogy. When he was 16 years old, Jackson left school and began working full-time as a photo-engraver for a Wellington newspaper, The Evening Post . For the seven years he worked there, Jackson lived at home with his parents so he could save as much money as possible to spend on film equipment. After two years of work Jackson bought

8900-419: Was Meet the Feebles (1989), co-written with Sinclair, Walsh and Mulheron. Begun on a very low budget, Meet the Feebles went weeks over schedule. Jackson stated of his second feature-length film, "It's got a quality of humour that alienates a lot of people. It's very black, very satirical, very savage." Released in 1994 after Jackson won a race to bring the story to the screen, Heavenly Creatures marked

9000-520: Was "practically loaded with wild ideas, knowingly campy dialogue and offbeat characterizations", it "switched gears" too fast and too frequently that "the audience is left struggling to catch up as [ The Frighteners ] twists and turns its way unmercifully towards a literally out-of-this-world finale". At the 23rd Saturn Awards , the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films honored Jackson with nominations for Best Director and Best Writing ,

9100-493: Was October 1996, but after Universal studio executives viewed a rough cut of The Frighteners , they were impressed enough to move the release date to their "summer blockbuster slot" on July 19, 1996. In addition, Universal offered the filmmaker the opportunity to make King Kong , which was not released until 2005. Jackson often disputed the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)'s decision on

9200-548: Was a box-office bomb . On 30 January 2019, the fiftieth anniversary of the Beatles ' rooftop concert , which was the band's final performance, Jackson announced that his next directorial work would be a documentary about the making of their final album Let It Be . In a process similar to his previous documentary project They Shall Not Grow Old , this created around "55 hours of never-before-seen footage and 140 hours of audio made available to [Jackson's team]", which are "the only footage of any note that documents them at work in

9300-517: Was a re-release of this with inferior audio. The Frighteners was first released on DVD in August 1998, but included no special features. To coincide with the release of Jackson's King Kong , Universal Studios Home Entertainment issued a double-sided director's cut DVD of the film in November 2005, which featured a version of The Frighteners that was 12 minutes longer. The other side includes

9400-412: Was kind of worried." Takahashi was quickly drafted as a visual effects supervisor, and began looking at the schedule, trying to work out whether The Frighteners could be finished in time. "There was no way we'd make the deadline. I figured out a concerted plan involving Jackson and Zemeckis to convince Universal it was worthy of asking for more money." The executives at Universal proposed splitting some of

9500-659: Was later added digitally). However, Baker was not able to apply Astin's five hours of makeup due to his commitment on The Nutty Professor . Makeup artist Brian Penikas ( Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy , Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ) fulfilled Baker's duties. The extended shooting schedule owed much to the fact that scenes where ghosts and human characters interacted had to be filmed twice; once with human characters acting on set, and then with

9600-537: Was like trying to remain interested in a loudmouth shouting in [his] ear". Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle stated that "instead of moving the horror genre in new directions, The Frighteners simply falls apart from its barrage of visual effects and the overmixed onslaught of Danny Elfman's music score". The Austin Chronicle ' s Joey O'Brien, said that although the screenplay

9700-424: Was made with "the full co-operation" of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr , the last two living Beatles, as well as John Lennon and George Harrison 's widows Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison . The film includes the full 42-minute last rooftop concert. In March 2020, Walt Disney Studios announced they had acquired the worldwide distribution rights to Jackson's documentary, now titled The Beatles: Get Back . It

9800-510: Was one of three producers on The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn , directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 2011. He is officially credited as producer but before he began working on The Hobbit , helped Spielberg direct the film. Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis were cast due to their collaboration with Peter Jackson on King Kong and The Lord of the Rings . Spielberg chose to work with Peter Jackson due to his work on

9900-560: Was originally set to be released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on 27 August 2021 in the US and Canada with a subsequent global release to follow. In June 2021, it was announced that it would be released on Disney+ as a three-part documentary series on 25, 26 and 27 November 2021. The documentary was released to generally positive reviews. In May 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav confirmed that Jackson and his partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens would be producing

10000-623: Was used in the search for MH370 . The aircraft has subsequently been sold. Jackson owns an aircraft restoration and manufacturing company, The Vintage Aviator (based in Kilbirnie, Wellington, and at the Hood Aerodrome , Masterton), which is dedicated to World War I and World War II fighter planes among other planes from the 1920s and 1930s. He is chairman of the Omaka Aviation Heritage Trust , which hosts

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