Filmmaker Peter Jackson recently revealed that he was ghosted by The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power's producers after being asked to consult on the Prime Video series. As it happens, that might have been for the best!
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, the director reflected on the time he spent in Middle-earth and revealed he "seriously considered" using hypnosis in an effort to forget the work he did on those Oscar-winning movies. Why? Well, not because he hated the experience; instead, he wanted to watch them like any fan of J. R. R. Tolkien's work.
"When we did the Lord of the Rings movies, I always felt I was the unlucky person who never got to see [them] as a coming-out-of-the-blue film," Jackson explained. "By the time they were screening, I was immersed in it for five or six years. It was such a loss for me not be able to see them like everyone else."
"I actually did seriously consider going to some hypnotherapy guy to hypnotize me to make me forget about the films and the work I had done over the last six or seven years so I could sit and enjoy them," he continued. "I didn’t follow through with it, but I did talk to [British mentalist] Derren Brown about that and he thought he could do it."
Of course, being ghosted by The Rings of Power team means Jackson can now enjoy those along with the rest of us, and we'd say it's a good thing that he didn't forget all the incredible work he did on those movies.
Jackson's fans remain optimistic he might return to the fantasy realm at some point, though that doesn't currently look to be on the cards for him. We don't know what he has planned next, but it would be no bad thing for him to tackle something in the Marvel or DC Universes down the line.
Which movie would you like to forget in order to experience it all over again?