Sir Peter Jackson ghosted by Rings of Power producers

Sir Peter Jackson claims he was ghosted by the makers of the upcoming 'Lord of the Rings' prequel series.

The 60-year-old director - who helmed both the 'Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' trilogies based on J.R.R. Tolkein's work - revealed the production team behind Amazon's TV saga 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' had initially contacted him about the possibility of being involved with the show but after an initial conversation, he never heard from them again.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter's 'Awards Chatter' podcast, he said: "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.' "

But while the producers promised to sent a copy of the scripts to Peter and Fran when they were complete, nothing materialised.

Peter added: "The scripts never showed up. That's the last thing I heard."

But the award-winning filmmaker has "no complaints at all" about what happened and is looking forward to seeing the show when it hits screens.

He said: "I'll be watching it. I'm not the sort of guy who wishes ill will. Filmmaking is hard enough.

"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."

Amazon Studios have insisted they were "obligated to keep the series distinct and separate" from Peter's movies and they have "the utmost respect" for the director and his work.

They said in a statement: "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'."