When Peter Jackson teamed up with New Line Cinema to create The Lord of the Rings trilogy, there was no guarantee at the time that it was going to be a success. A lot of risks and sacrifices were made to produce the adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy.
As you might imagine there was a lot of pressure on a lot of people involved with the project and when with that pressure building it’s not surprising to learn that Jackson and the studio ended up butting heads. Jackson managed to keep his cool through the entire production, but he says that there was on time that he “snapped” on the set, and it was when he received a message in the middle of production that about restraining his budget on the film
In an interview with Deadline, he shared the story, saying:
“It was a period of time when New Line were at their most angry with us in terms of the budget. I am on the parapet, probably with Viggo [Mortensen], and I see [producer] Barrie [Osborne]. It took him about 30 minutes to huff and puff his way to get on the top, and so I kept on shooting. Barrie arrives and says, ‘I have the studio, I’ve got to connect you with Michael Lynne of New Line.’ I ask why. He says, ‘Oh, he’s going to threaten to sue you and sell the house from under you to cover the cost overruns.’”
“Barrie was just the messenger, but it was one of the only points where I really snapped. I said, ‘Just tell Michael Lynne that I’m shooting this fucking film and I’m doing the best job I can, and I’m not going to interrupt my day with a phone call like that.’ Barrie picked up the cellphone and made his way back down to the car and drove off.”
I honestly could have seen that escalating into something so much worse. Jackson says he snapped, but that came off as being pretty restrained compared to other on-set blow-ups that I’ve heard about. While Jackson was clearly upset, he understands how the studio would be so concerned with the numbers. The director went on to express his empathy for the situation. You have to remember, he initially pitched the films at $60 million each, and that ended up turning into $120 million each.
“I totally appreciate the position that New Line, Bob Shaye, and Michael Lynne were in and I don’t look back on any of it and judge them remotely. There was a lot of pressure, and they were very upset with us as the budgets went up. The anger was understandable. They aren’t the bad guys in this story; we are really the bad guys for going over budget. Eventually, it stabilized when Barrie Osborne came in as producer a few months into us shooting, when the movie was re-budgeted and realistic. We all felt a bit under siege, but looking back on it, I get it, I understand it all now much clearer.”
It’s pretty insane to think that this year marks 20th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring! Where in the hell did the time go!? Those films still hold up and are three of my favorite movies of all time.