Peter Jackson spoke at a Cannes Film Festival masterclass after receiving an honorary Palme d’Or. He didn’t hold back on three big topics. These included AI in Hollywood, motion capture recognition, and the upcoming Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.
On artificial intelligence, his view was straightforward. Though Jackson acknowledged AI is “going to destroy the world,” he made clear that when it comes to its use in film, “I don’t dislike it at all.” “AI used in the right way, it’s just a tool like any other tool,” he said, adding that creative results will ultimately come down to the imagination and originality of the person feeding the instructions into the AI program.
That said, Jackson drew a firm line around one thing. He called it “absolutely critical” to protect actors’ rights. “If you’re doing an AI duplicate of somebody, like Indiana Jones or anyone else, as long as you’ve licensed the rights off the person who you’re showing, I don’t see the issue,” he added
Where the AI debate gets thornier, Jackson argued, is in awards recognition. He believes Andy Serkis never received enough awards for his portrayal of Gollum. He feels many people don’t fully understand motion capture acting. Additionally, he noted that today’s fear around AI has made the situation even worse.
“A lot of the current environment, everyone’s so worried about AI… I don’t think a Gollum-type character or a generated character has any hope for winning any awards,” Jackson said. “Which is a bit unfair, especially in the Andy Serkis case where it’s not an AI-generated performance, it’s a human-generated performance 100% of the way.”
The Hunt for Gollum
It’s a point that hits differently now, with The Hunt for Gollum on the horizon. Jackson directed both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, but will not helm the new film, and he was candid about why. “I could have directed it, but I thought, I’ve done that,” Jackson said at his Cannes Rendez-Vous. The film, he explained, is “an internal story about Gollum’s psychology and addiction” and “a personal story to Gollum,” and when he thought about who should tell it, only one name came to mind: “Andy knows this guy better than anybody.”
“I thought the most exciting version of this movie is going to be if Andy Serkis makes it, because he’s going to put a Gollum psychology on screen that you cannot imagine,” Jackson put it plainly
Even as a producer on the film, Jackson says he’s been “leaving Serkis to it,” adding that he is there to help when he can help. If he can be of assistance at certain times… but he doesn’t interfere.
The film will also star Sir Ian McKellen, Lee Pace, Kate Winslet, Jamie Dornan, and Leo Woodall, with a theatrical release set for December 2027, and production based in Wellington, New Zealand.
Jackson received his honorary Palme d’Or at the opening ceremony of the 79th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 12, 2026. It was presented by Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood, who will also reprise his role as Frodo Baggins in The Hunt for Gollum.
