While Peter Jackson is busy working on the new Lord of the Rings movie, The Hunt for Gollum, he’s also pursuing something very different indeed: the resurrection of extinct animals. In an exclusive interview with IGN, below, he tells us why.
The legendary New Zealand director has partnered with a biotech company to bring the South Island Giant Moa back to life. Moa were flightless birds endemic to New Zealand that went extinct 600 years ago. They ranged from turkey-sized species to the South Island Giant Moa, which stood up to 3.6 meters tall with its neck outstretched, and weighed approximately 230 kilograms.
The Texas-based genetic engineering company in question is Colossal Biosciences, which hit the headlines recently for resurrecting the extinct dire wolf (although there is some debate about whether the company actually managed to make dire wolves or instead created modified grey wolves). Now, Colossal Biosciences, with an investment from Jackson himself, has turned its attention to the Giant Moa in a “de-extinction” quest that would be more at home in Jurassic Park than Lord of the Rings.
It’s working with the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, which aims to advance ecological restoration and develop tools for conservation in Te Waipounamu, New Zealand’s South Island, to resurrect the South Island Giant Moa and other Taonga Species. The sequencing and rebuilding of the genomes for all nine moa species has already begun, Colossal Biosciences said.
What happens next? Colossal Biosciences is on the hunt to recover ancient DNA for genomic analysis, which will be followed by gene identification and functional characterization, biological inference from genomic data, and the development of reproductive technologies. All the while, Peter Jackson is on a hunt himself, as he tells us in the interview below.
As for Lord of the Rings, The Hunt for Gollum is due out December 17, 2027, and is confirmed to see star and director Andy Serkis reprise his role as Gollum. This time, we’ll get to see what Gollum was up to in the years between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Warner Bros. has said The Hunt for Gollum is in fact the first of two new Lord of the Rings feature films from Peter Jackson, his partner Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, as the company aims to make more of the franchise.
Read on for IGN’s Q&A with Peter Jackson and Ben Lamm, CEO and co-founder of Colossal.
IGN: What motivated you to invest in a genetic engineering and de-extinction company? What attracted you to the science in the first place?
Peter Jackson: I’ve always loved the idea of de-extinction. Particularly, since the science can also have huge benefits with endangered species too.
IGN: Why was the South Island Giant Moa the right choice here?
Peter Jackson: Colossal are obviously working on other animals too, but as a New Zealander, the Moa is a bird that is part of the country’s DNA. It made such a strong impact on the Maori too. They arrived in New Zealand as Polynesians, around 1290AD, when there were an estimated 4 million Moa throughout the country. Having access to this rich protein source literally changed them into Maori over the next 200 years.
This also led to the extinction of the Moa, so it’s particularly fitting that this project is being led by Ngāi Tahu, the largest South Island tribe.
The nine species of Moa ranged from turkey size up to the South Island Giant Moa, which was the largest Moa at around 13 foot tall. We don’t really see the point of working on anything but the largest at this stage… although I’m hoping we’ll eventually resurrect all nine species over time.
IGN: How confident are you that Colossal Biosciences will be able to “resurrect” the actual Giant Moa?
Peter Jackson: Very confident. They are well down the track with bringing the dodo back, and the Moa project will benefit from everything they learn with the dodo.
IGN: What has been your involvement with the project, and what are your aims for involvement in the future?
Peter Jackson: Fran and I have a collection of around 400 Moa bones, and we’ve already sampled them for DNA. I see my role over the next year or two as gathering as many more bones as I can. The more bones, the better the genome.
But I’m also excited about the way the Moa de-extinction will inspire a lot of young New Zealanders to take up study, and then careers, in science.
IGN: When did you first meet Peter and how did the Moa come to be; why was it the right choice?
Ben Lamm: I met Peter a few years ago through Michael Dougherty. I have always been fascinated with the Moa and thought it would be a dream to work on it one day at Colossal. When we met Peter and Fran, they loved the company but said they would only invest if we spent their investment on bringing back the Moa with the support of the Māori. Peter helped facilitate those meetings with the Ngāi Tahu and introduced us to the world’s leading Moa expert, Paul Scofield. The project really felt like it all just organically came together.
IGN: Where are you now with the science behind de-extincting the moa?
Ben Lamm: Based on Colossal establishing our avian genomics group to work on the dodo a few years back, we had built the core specialized lab infrastructure, team and started solving the adaptation of our de-extinction mammalian work flows to birds. At Colossal, we like to parallel path as much as possible so while we are working on sampling various Moa bones to collect ancient DNA for sampling, we are also working on reference genomes for some of the Moa’s closest living relatives and developing culture conditions to eventually start editing. We also have samples we have taken from Moa currently being sequenced as well.
IGN: What excites you about bringing back the moa?
Ben Lamm: I am excited about the impact the return of the Moa will have not just on the Māori and the people of New Zealand, but the inspiration I believe it will drive for kids around the world. I believe everyone right now has Jurassic World Rebirth on the brain and we know how much those movies and dinosaurs capture the imagination and interest of kids of all ages. The Moa was a 13 foot, 500 pound bird (the biggest bird to ever live) with no wings and feathers that looked even hairlike. The Moa looks like the closest animal to a dinosaur that modern humans lived amongst. Parents and their children will be drawn to this iconic bird and by doing so, it will get them more excited about animals, conservation, and science.
Image credit: Colossal Biosciences.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
