No doubt Lord of the Rings geeks worldwide already worship him as a god among men, but Peter Jackson will henceforth be known by a more concrete title – he’s been knighted in New Zealand’s latest New Year’s Honours list.

The director has been made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his contribution to film. No doubt the huge boost Lord of the Rings has given to the local tourism and filmmaking industries over in Kiwi-land also didn’t go unnoticed.

The knighthood will be sanctioned by Queen Elizabeth as New Zealand is a member of the Commonwealth, but it’s unclear whether there will actually be an official ceremony for Jackson at Buckingham Palace. Nevertheless, in between preparing for the release of his latest project, The Lovely Bones, and working on getting The Hobbit off the ground, Pete still had time to be chuffed.

“My parents would have been beside themselves with pride at this moment”, he gushed to the Sydney Morning Herald.

“I didn’t think anything would surpass the 2004 Academy Awards, but I was wrong.”

Jackson certainly won’t be resting on his armour any time soon – as well as The Hobbit, he’s also producing film adaptations of Tintin and the Mortal Engines fantasy novels. His remake of World War II film The Dam Busters is also due for release this year.

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