It seems Peter Jackson is following in the footsteps of J.K Rowling when it comes to winding up fans by teasing them with little hints about what he may direct in the future. In a video posted on the Oscar winning director’s Facebook page, Peter Jackson is seen relaxing at his home with his daughter before Peter Capaldi runs in and asks him to sign a mysterious document from Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat. Prior to the cameo by Peter Capaldi, his daughter tells Jackson that he’s received an email from Steven Moffat, something Jackson ignores which has actually happened before: In November, Moffat said that Jackson was a “genuine big old Doctor Who fan,” adding: “He’s mentioned [directing an episode], and then we email him and he doesn’t reply.”
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Back to the skit posted on his Facebook page. The director doesn’t get a chance to sign what is presumably a contract before Capaldi is forced to exit stage right, pursued by a Dalek. However, more tantalizing than a Jackson-directed episode of Doctor Who (at least for die hard fans of the Middle Earth Universe by J.R.R Tolkien), is the hardback book placed conspicuously on the Jacksons’ table: a bookmarked copy of The Silmarillion. For those wondering what that is and how to pronounce it, The Silmarillion is a collection of stories written by J. R. R. Tolkien and edited and published by his son, Christopher Tolkien. They flesh out the world of Middle-earth in mythic detail, starting with the creation of the Universe and continuing to the forging of the Rings of Power. Fans of the series state that is far superior to the Lord of the Rings novel.
While there has been heavy speculation that Peter Jackson would indeed direct a movie adaptation of The Silmarillion, it is extremely unlikely. J.R.R Tolkien sold the film rights to The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit in the 1960s but the rights for The Silmarillion are still held by his family and his son, Christopher Tolkien, has no intention of selling them since, in his own words, “they eviscerated the book by making an action movie for people aged 15 to 25.”
To be honest I’m not entirely sure I would want to see The Silmarillion in movie format considering the fact that, in my opinion, The Hobbit movie adaptations were a fiasco. Something Peter Jackson admitted since he had no plan when directing them. The simplest answer for the video is that he’s trolling fans of both franchises. Or it may be our lucky day and he gets to direct both a Doctor Who episode and The Silmarillion.
