Anything You Can Imagine

Peter Jackson and the Making of Middle-earth

By: Ian Nathan, Andy Serkis - foreword

Narrated by: Tristram Wymark

Length: 22 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

The definitive history of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth saga, Anything You Can Imagine takes us on a cinematic journey across all six films, featuring brand-new interviews with Peter, his cast and his crew. From the early days of daring to dream it could be done, through the highs and lows of making the films, to fan adoration and, finally, Oscar glory.

Lights

A nine-year-old boy in New Zealand’s Pukerua Bay stays up late and is spellbound by a 60-year-old vision of a giant ape on an island full of dinosaurs. This is true magic. And the boy knows that he wants to be a magician.

Camera

Fast-forward 20 years, and the boy has begun to cast a spell over the filmgoing audience, conjuring gore-splattered romps with bravura skill that will lead to Academy recognition, with an Oscar nomination for Heavenly Creatures. The boy from Pukerua Bay with monsters reflected in his eyes has arrived, and Hollywood comes calling. What would he like to do next? 'How about a fantasy film, something like The Lord of the Rings?'

Action

The greatest work of fantasy in modern literature, and the biggest, with rights ownership so complex it will baffle a wizard. Vast. Complex. Unfilmable. One does not simply walk into Mordor - unless you are Peter Jackson.

Anything You Can Imagine tells the full dramatic story of how Jackson and his trusty fellowship of Kiwi filmmakers dared take on a quest every bit as daunting as Frodo’s and transformed JRR Tolkien’s epic tale of adventure into cinematic magic, and then did it again with The Hobbit. Enriched with brand-new interviews with Jackson, his fellow filmmakers and many of the films’ stars, Ian Nathan’s mesmerising narrative whisks us to Middle-earth, to gaze over the shoulder of the director as he creates the impossible, the unforgettable, and proves that filmmaking really is 'anything you can imagine'.

©2018 Ian Nathan, 2018 Andy Serkis - foreword (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"This book truly is the definitive history of the Lord of the Rings films. Nearly every single element of the productions is coverd here, from writing, to shooting, to Oscar-night jitters. Nathan’s prose does exactly what you want from a book like this: it makes you feel as if you’re really there." (SlashFilm)

"In breezy and often cheeky prose, Nathan tells a grand story worthy of the annals of great filmmaking… there is much to learn, to chuckle over and to admire as Jackson and his band of indefatigable Kiwis face down the naysayers.’ (Daily Mail)

Great Read

Great story about Peter Jackson's early works and of course the epics The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The narration was incredibly rich and satisfying!

Anything a fan could imagine

The perfect listen for a Tolkien nerd, and an even better one for a film enthusiast. Nathan is exceptionally thorough, and answers questions about the inner workings of the films that have played in my mind for years. For me, listening to this book enhanced my experience of the appendices on the extended versions. After hearing the same names being mentioned many times over, seeing them on camera discussing the making of the films made them familiar. The hard cover would make a great addition to my Tolkien library, as I see myself listening to this book again and reading along to better solidify the plethora of knowledge.

Narration itself a superb performance

As a LOTR fan, the story was full of interesting details. I have toured Weta workshop and thoroughly enjoyed the history of its growth.

But best of all was the narration!!! The narrator took on the character/inflection/accent of the speech of those persons the author had interviewed. So good was the likeness that you could “see” the person as he spoke.
Superb!!

A Must Have For Any Rings Fan

As a self described Lord of the Rings nerd, this book further enriched my love for Tolkien and the work put into the film adaptations. Bravo!!

Absolutely fantastic

Mr Ian Nathan travels us to Middle-Earth aka New Zealand, and takes us from the days before Peter Jackson could even dream of directing the LOTR trilogy all the way to the conclusion of the Hobbit movies. It's a fantastic trip and everyone who enjoyed the original trilogy should not miss. I found it as rewarding as the extended versions of the LOTR combined.
It was a try privilege to have access all this wealth of information, compiled neatly and in an orderly way that only a top class journalist and author can do without confusing their audience. Easily my favorite audiobook of all time. I will come back to it soon. I hope Audible adds more Ian Nathan titles.
Overall, a true masterpiece and a great experience.
Nothing negative to report, although I would have liked it if Audible had approached its constant collaborators, Andy Serkie and Ian McKellen and asked them to provide some first hand (of first voice if u prefer) narration,
But that's just a recommendation.

Fantastic journey through Middle Earth

Loved this book, author did a great job filling in gaps I’ve wondered about for years. Great job on both writing and narration!

Hard to imagine a better listen than this.

This is a fabulous recounting of everything to do with Peter Jackson's mammoth film undertaking.

Good storytelling but…

The reader was constantly swallowing and audibly fidgeting. Was very hard to pay attention to the story.

Well writen and told

Well writen and told. As a fan of both books and films I enjoyed this very much.

LOR fan and loved the movies you'll want

interesting listen that made me want to watch the movies again.
Interesting story on how movies get made.