I always get a kick out of these little lists. Practically speaking, they’re just totally subjective. Still they’re fun to read… especially when Peter Jackson tops the list.
According to WebIndia, Premiere Magazine has put out it’s list of the most powerful people in Hollywood (I’m assuming it only means famous ones), and Peter Jack sits at the top of the list:
According to the Sun, director Steven Spielberg came second while Steve Jobs and John Lasseter, heads of Pixar jointly came third.
Stars Wars creator George Lucas was 11th, while Tom Cruise was the highest placed actor at No14.
I know a lot of people will probably hit me with lots of hate mail for this… but PETER JACKSON?!?! Oh come on! Yes, The Lord of the Rings was fantastic (I personally think The Return of the King is the single greatest film ever made), but let’s not forget that before Rings, Jackson’s resume included flicks like The Frighteners and Heavenly Creatures.
And who knows… King Kong could totally suck. And before you say “Oh how could it suck? Peter Jackson is directing it!”. Yeah… well he also directed Meet the Feebles.
All I’m saying is that one major project (even one as good as Lord of the Rings) shouldn’t be enough to put Jackson over top of an established, consistently fantastic director like Spielberg. Let’s see Jackson rip off 5 or 6 great projects (which he may) and then we’ll talk about him in the same breath as Spielberg.
I am with you on that one Brian, that’s what I asked when I saw the trailer for KK.
All it made me want to do is watch Jurassic Park and be all cuddly with the T-Rex.
King Kong looks like a ruined piece of garbage. I’m sorry Mr.Jackson but just cause you made the lord of the rings doesn’t give you the power to ruin KING KONG. Whats with the dinosaurs? That really just gets under my skin. For god sakes people don’t support this movie at all.
I can see where you’re coming from on this, but the guy is pretty powerful. I certainly see reasons why he shouldn’t be number one, but he does deserve to be pretty high on the list at this point.
And, adding to previous comments, Meet the Feebles, Heavenly Creatures, Dead Alive, Bad Taste, Forgotten Silver, et cetera, et cetera, were all awesome movies. Some of those titles are not necessarily the *classiest* flicks, but quality does not equal class in my book; entertainment value does.
Was Sam Raimi overlooked on this list? I would think he’d be in pretty high demand after the Spidermans. Personally, I thought he was the most powerful man in hollywood after Army of Darkness…
Im only posting here to ask John or Richard why you haven’t updated on RUSH HOUR 3!!…. I just found out Chris Tucker signed a 40mill 2-movie deal with New Line(Rush Hour 3 being one of those movies)…..Yall got something against Jackie and Tucker,HMMMM????
Mell has it right so perhaps Spielberg will get it again next year with err…”War of the Worlds” or whatever (he’s the director of that one, right?)
King Kong is going to be a rental for me, unless it gets, like, 90% on RT.
And Heavenly Creatures is quite a good film, made most top ten critics list when it was released. Ignored by the general public (as usual).
This list is made up by who has the bankable name at the time and who had the most success over the previous year. It’s a bragging rights list, should one choose to brag.
“Most powerful in Hollywood” ?
How about “Most powerful in Wellington”
“Most powerful in Hollywood”
How about “Most powerful in Wellington”
Yes, for all those claiming that Shaun of the Dead was the first ‘romantic Zombie Comedy’ Dead alive beat it to the punch by over a decade…
They are both fine films though…for different reasons…Dead alive succeeds as a gore-comedy spectacle…Shaun as an accomplished Slacker film.
Wait a minute…Meet the Feebles was a great film!…and Dead Alive was also pretty decent, certainly equivalent to Shaun of the Dead.
jim
Good points Arnav, if power is equivalent to influence or clout in the industry then yes, it it far too early for Peter Jackson to pull that one off.
Spielberg, way too easily & comfortably.
Are you implying meet the feebles isnt great?
Agreeing to most of what you’ve said (though I am not sure if any of the LOTR movies can be called the “greatest film ever made”), I have a feeling we are confusing “powerful” people with “great” filmmakers. Spielberg would rank much higher above Jackson if the list was for great filmmakers/actors/technicians in Hollywood, but we can’t be so sure of the same relative positions when it comes to “power” in the industry, which could translate to a lot of things including the box-office potential, the ability to choose any off-beat topic to work on, eagerness of other people to work with them, and so on, which is, as you said, very subjective. Having said that, I do find it slightly incredible even then that Jackson could top that list.
Who decided this list??? I was like… WHAT???
I would have to agree with you there John except for the comment on “Return of the King”, (greatest film ever made?) I still concede that among the LoTR trilogy, “Fellowship of the Ring” stands out as the best film of all, lesser flaws and not too many changes from the book version. IMHO, Steven Spielberg should be the one on top of this list with George Lucas and Tom Cruise rounding off the Top 10. Although not bad for an actor to make it to 14th place.
Going back to Jackson, sure I have respect for the guy, I wouldnt have been interested in reading the LoTR books if not for his film treatment of them, but he has yet to really work on a project that is his “own”. I mean he is working on “King Kong” now, but hey, that’s a remake, sure, he might do a really excellent version of it and I want him to but he has to do a lot more films that has substance to earn him “the powerful” title. Looking at Spielberg’s CV on the other hand, I dont need further convincing. :-)