Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson, that jumble-haired, once obese New Zealander, whose massively fantastic Lord of the Rings trilogy makes the Star Wars franchise look like a feeble little video project by comparison, is not a name that simply pops up on a real estate deed in city records. (A Queens man named Peter A. Jackson and Peter G. Jackson of Brooklyn both make purchases in their own names, though that’s different.)

So considering that the filmmaker’s executive assistant Matthew Dravitzki, his New Zealand-based attorney Michael Stephens and his Hollywood power lawyer Peter Nelson are all listed in city records on twin penthouse purchases in Tribeca, it seems likely that Mr.  read more »

Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider tells us that New Line and MGM have finally green-lighted Peter Jackson's The Hobbit project. Mr. Jackson will executive produce the Lord of the Rings prequel for a 2010 release, but the studios are still searching for a director.  read more »

We told you yesterday that Ryan Gosling left the Peter Jackson-directed film adaptation of The Lovely Bones this weekend, but now The Los Angeles Times is reporting that a little chub might have been the reason behind those so-called "creative differences."

Peter Jackson was said to be quite surprised that Gosling had showed up to start work on "The Lovely Bones" looking like he'd donned a fat suit. According to sources, the 26-year-old Gosling had apparently told the director he was going to gain weight to age himself up to play the part of a grieving father, but Jackson was still expecting some movie star allure -- not paunch and a beard. By Friday, Gosling had left the high-profile production over those pesky "creative differences," and, by Sunday, he'd been replaced by 36-year-old Mark Wahlberg, who actually could be old enough to father a teenager.

... [T]he period set of Ye Olde Nieue Yorke that erstwhile wizard Peter Jackson assembled is lined—no: studded—with lamp posts of a retro-nostalgic type that only began to appear en masse in NYC in the early 1990s. And not where Kong saw them. Erp. Call rewrite.

Of course, a long and difficult movie like King Kong is bound to be full of little filmic blunders, but around here we want to hear from New York history wonks, not film editors. Write in with more.  read more »

Oh: And we know the picture above is not from King Kong. It's Singin' in the Rain, which just seemed appropriate today.