Lord of the Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson invests $10M in effort to revive extinct dodo bird

Lord of the Rings director Peter Robert Jackson has put $10 million toward a Texas startup company aimed at reviving extinct animals such as the dodo bird.

The New Zealand-born filmmaker, 62, and wife Fran Walsh, 65, put the sum of money into the Dallas company Colossal Biosciences, according to Bloomberg.

The Academy Award-winning director is one in a group of notable names from various fields who have contributed to a $235 million sum in the organization.

Others include athletes such as Tom Brady and Tiger Woods; entertainers including Paris Hilton and Chris Hemsworth; and business figures such as tech billionaire Thomas Tull and the Winklevoss Capital Management firm, according to the outlet.

Jackson’s investment is also aimed at stopping species in New Zealand from facing extinction, his publicist told Bloomberg. 

Lord of the Rings director Peter Robert Jackson, 62, has put $10 million toward a Texas startup company aimed at reviving extinct animals such as the dodo bird. Pictured in London in 2018

The Dallas company Colossal Biosciences is aimed at bringing back extinct animals such as the dodo bird. A dodo skeleton pictured in the U.K. in 2016  

Colossal Biosciences opened in 2021 in a collaboration with founder, businessman Ben Lamm, and geneticist George Church.

Church is a Harvard Medical School biologist renown for his studies in genetic sequencing; past involvement with the Human Genome Project; and projects aimed at bringing the wooly mammoth out of extinction, according to a 2021 report from The New York Times.

Colossal Biosciences projects include the rewriting of elephant DNA using wooly mammoth genetics to develop an embryo with characteristics of the extinct animal. It also has plans on bringing back the Tasmanian tiger and wooly mammoth. 

People who are investing in Colossal Biosciences are gaining equity for subsidiary conservation-based companies, Bloomberg reported.

Colossal Biosciences has worked with The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation on potential locations for its initial batch of dodo birds, which went extinct in the 17th century.

Mauritian Wildlife Foundation conservation director Vikash Tatayah said, ‘The dodo, a bird intimately woven in the DNA of Mauritius, is also sadly iconic for the role mankind played in its extinction … we are so grateful for Colossal’s technologies and the promise to return this iconic species, extinct since the 1680s, to its native environment.’

Lamm told Forbes that Jackson and Walsh are ‘mission-aligned’ and ardent supporters of about ‘conservation and biodiversity restoration, adding, ‘It’s a special privilege to helm Colossal and be supported by visionaries, entrepreneurs and industry leaders.’

Lamm told the AP in January of 2023, ‘The dodo is a symbol of man-made extinction.’ 

Colossal Biosciences projects include the rewriting of elephant DNA using wooly mammoth genetics to develop an embryo with characteristics of the extinct animal 

The Academy Award-winning director is one in a group of notable names from various fields who have contributed to a $235 million sum in the organization. Pictured in London in 2019 

Jackson has a net worth in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion, according to Forbes 

Jackson won three Oscars in 2004 for 2003’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Best Picture, Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay; and Best Director

Jackson won three Oscars in 2004 for 2003’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Best Picture, Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay; and Best Director, sharing the first two honors with Walsh. 

Jackson has a net worth in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion, according to Forbes. 

The outlet reported Jackson’s net worth rose substantially in 2021 with the sale of a percentage of his digital effects studio (then known as Weta Digital) to the company Unity Software for a $1.6 billion cash and stock package.

Jackson’s Weta Digital was acclaimed for its technology that produced characters such as Lord of the Rings’ Gollum character or the characters in the lucrative Avatar franchise.

A film in the franchise based on Gollum – Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum – is due to be released in 2026, according to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said in May.

Jackson has also directed multiple films in The Hobbit franchise and multiple projects on The Beatles.