Peter Jackson is undeniably one of the most talented and powerful filmmakers working today. However, this power was not attained gradually, it happened seemingly overnight. The New Zealand-based director began his career in the 1980s and worked for years as the purveyor of low budget horror oddities. The release of Heavenly Creatures in 1994 suddenly earned Jackson respect amongst legitimate film critics and took him down a path that eventually lead to directing the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. The monumental success of that series instantly turned Jackson into a powerful Hollywood player. That kind of sudden rise in power can often have a negative impact on the recipient of the success. While Jackson’s friends and colleagues have always been the first to support the director and speak highly of him, there have been a few incidents recently that suggest that there might be trouble in paradise.

Jackson is a filmmaker who has always been loyal to his collaborators. He continues employ writers, special effects gurus, and other technicians who he met on early low-budget genre movies like Meet The Feebles and Braindead. This sense of loyalty has always suggested a very collaborative and respectful relationship between the director and his crew, but these warm relationships have been changing during recent productions. The first incident occurred during post production on King Kong when Jackson fired Oscar winning composer Howard Shore (the man responsible for the wonderful Lord Of The Rings music) over “creative differences.” In Hollywood, “creative differences” is a euphemism for an ego-driven fight and this incident came as a shock because it involved two particularly amiable Hollywood personalities who had worked well together previously. It was a surprising moment, but one that simply could have meant that Shore was simply the wrong person for that particular job. That is, until the incidents continued.