Peter Robert Jackson, CNZM (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker, producer and screenwriter, best known for The Lord of the Rings trilogy adapted from the novel by J. R. R. Tolkien. He is also known for his 2005 remake of King Kong.

He won international attention early in his career with his "splatstick" horror comedies, before coming to mainstream prominence with Heavenly Creatures, for which he shared an Academy Award best screenplay nomination with his partner Fran Walsh. Jackson has been awarded a total of three Academy Awards in his career.

Jackson, an only child, was born on 31 October 1961 in Pukerua Bay, a coastal town near Wellington, New Zealand. His parents - Joan, a factory worker and housewife, and William Jackson, an accountant - were both immigrants from England. As a child, Jackson was a keen film fan, growing up on Ray Harryhausen films as well as finding inspiration in the television series Thunderbirds and Monty Python's Flying Circus. After a family friend gave the Jacksons a Super 8 cine-camera with Peter in mind, he began making short films with his friends. Jackson has long cited King Kong as his favourite film and around the age of nine he attempted to remake it using his own stop-motion models.