Is Peter Jackson Turning Into George Lucas?

Film-makers never get a break, do they? They spend years struggling in obscurity to improve their craft and gain some kind of recognition but, when notoriety finally comes, what happens? Well, admittedly, bags of money and simpering adulation. But after that they’re only ever a Jar-Jar Binks action figure away from ruining everything. Recently, people have worried this might be happening to Peter Jackson after the first part of the Hobbit trilogy was released. Oh, sure, it made lots of money but all the CGI and vomiting gave some people horrible, PTSD-induced flashbacks where the disembodied voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi repeatedly said “I have a bad feeling about this..”. So, are people right to be worried? Could Peter Jackson be on the road to flannel shirts and a bad 1950s quiff?

Whatever Happened To M Night Shyamalan?

 

In 1999, M. Night Shyamalan was a rising star. He was Spielberg without the beard, he was Hitchcock without the hatred for all mankind. Shyamalan couldn’t walk down the street without receiving nominations, awards and random hugs from passing strangers. But 14 years later and his new release, After Earth, is his lowest box office return yet ($26 million for a $156 million dollar budget). It’s alleged that the industry has so little trust in him that his involvement in the film was “downplayed” (read: removed entirely). What causes a thinly-veiled 2-hour-long Scientology training video to distance itself from its director? How did he become box office poison?