Sir Peter Robert Jackson ONZ KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known as the director and producer of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and its prequel, The Hobbit trilogy , both of which are adapted from the novels of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien. Other notable films include Heavenly Creatures , Forgotten Silver , The Frighteners , King Kong and The Lovely Bones . He also produced District 9 , The Adventures of Tintin and the documentary West of Memphis .