Lord of the Rings fans furious after Peter Jackson reveals he was ghosted by Amazon Studios over new series

Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson has said that Amazon never sent him scripts for the forthcoming series The Rings of Powers – despite telling him they would.

Jackson opened up about his experience with the studio on a recent episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast.

“They asked me if I wanted to be involved – [writer-producer Fran Walsh] and I – and I said, ‘That’s an impossible question to answer without seeing a script,’” he recalled.

“So they said, ‘As soon as we get the first couple scripts, we’ll send them to you.’ And the scripts never showed up.”

Jackson said there was no further communication between him and the studio, but clarified he has “no complaints at all”.

The Oscar-winning director said he was looking forward to watching the series as a “perfectly neutral viewer”.

"I’ll be watching it. I’m not the sort of guy who wishes ill will. Filmmaking is hard enough,” he said.

“If somebody makes a good film or TV show, it’s something to celebrate. The one thing I am looking forward to is actually seeing it as a perfectly neutral viewer.”

Fans, however, were angry to learn that the studio did not seek out Jackson’s advice for the series.

One person wrote on Twitter: “Doesn’t surprise me in the least. How obnoxious are these showrunner that they don’t seek advice from the Master Peter Jackson?”

Another added: “How utterly predictable.”

“Lord of the Rings doesn’t interest me, but it is clear from what has been shown that they didn’t want anybody with talent getting involved for making the prequel,” a third person wrote. “Peter Jackson has done so much more than Lord of the Rings, and is capable of creating even more greater content.”

Someone else said: “One does not simply ghost Peter Jackson.”

The Independent has contacted a representative of Amazon Studios for comment.

In a statement issued to The Hollywood Reporter, Amazon said: “In pursuing the rights for our show, we were obligated to keep the series distinct and separate from the films.

“We have the utmost respect for Peter Jackson and The Lord of the Rings films and are thrilled that he is looking forward to watching The Rings of Power.”

The Rings of Power will be released on Amazon on 2 September.