Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson on how Tolkien stopped a Beatles LOTR film

That was the year author JRR Tolkien refused The Beatles permission to make a film version of his fantasy epic The Lord of The Rings.

Fast forward 36 years and The Return of The King, the final film in Jackson's trilogy adaptation of the literary classic, would tie the record for the most Oscar wins in one year - 11, including best director for Jackson.

Oh, how different things could have been if it had been the Fab Four with Frodo.

Peter Jackson sells visual effects firm for $1.6bn to Unity

A division of Weta Digital, which has worked on films including Lord of the Rings and Avatar, is being bought by video games software company Unity.

Unity's technology is behind games such as Pokémon Go and Call of Duty: Mobile.

The firms say the deal means that Weta's special effects tools will be "democratised".

"Together, Unity and Weta Digital can create a pathway for any artist, from any industry, to be able to leverage these incredibly creative and powerful tools," Sir Peter said in a statement.