Peter Jackson
Movies: Lord of the Rings, King Kong
Game: Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie
How'd he do? Pretty well. The unwieldy vanity title – presumably meant to distinguish the game from John Guillermin's King Kong: The Official Game of the Notorious 1976 Flop - may have left out the game's most important element: Jackson's cohort, Beyond Good & Evil designer Michel Ancel.
That's no slight against the director: his skilful choice of collaborators has always been a strength, and Jackson's work with Ancel was well-received, matching the filmmaker's explosive populism with the designer's falutin' gaming sensibilities for the best of both worlds.
Give up the day job? Not just yet. PJKK:TOGotM was followed by the announcement that Middle Earth would become Halo, with Jackson working on both cinematic and videogame installments in Bungie's franchise from his homebase in Wellington, New Zealand. However, when funding was pulled, Halo's would-be director Neil Blomkamp made District 9 instead, and Jackson's Wingnut Interactive ceased work on the planned game to develop their own IP.
