Lights, camera, action!

Wellington film director Peter Jackson is gearing up for an extended run at the box office, ending a four-year hiatus from the big screen. Working with a stable of filmmakers, from fellow Oscar-winners to first-time directors, Jackson is turning out a horde of new movies from his New Zealand-based production hub — entering the territory of a small group of directors like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg who control their own movie-making empires. Projects on the go include; District 9, a soon-to-be-released sci-fi drama that Jackson produced and seeded with his own money; a two-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, of which he is co-writing and producing; directing of The Lovely Bones, a US$65 million adaptation of Alice Sebold’s novel of the same name; producing a remake of World War II classic The Dam Busters; and involvement with Steven Spielberg in two Tin Tin films, the second he will direct.