Philippa Jane Boyens (born 1963) is a New Zealand screenwriter who co-wrote the screenplay for The Lord of the Rings series, King Kong, The Lovely Bones, and the three-part film series The Hobbit.
Biography
Born in 1962, Boyens is the daughter of John Fraser Boyens and Jane Moana Menhennet. She was educated at Massey High School, and was later a part-time student at the University of Auckland, graduating with a BA in English and history in 1994.
Boyens received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University and Auckland in 2006.
Boyens co-wrote the screenplay for Peter Jackson's films The Lord of the Rings series, King Kong, The Lovely Bones, and the three-part film The Hobbit, all with Jackson and Fran Walsh.
Boyens, Jackson, and Walsh won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at the 76th Academy Awards in 2004. She was co-producer on every one of Jackson's films since King Kong, and on District 9. Prior to screenwriting, Boyens worked in theatre as a playwright, teacher, producer, and editor.
Boyens was director of the New Zealand Writers Guild for a time.
Work on Lord of the Rings
Boyens first became a Tolkien fan as a child. When she came on board to help the writing team on The Lord of the Rings, she had already read the book seven times. and Isaac Miller appeared as a young Hobbit in a flashback of the Old Took's party in the extended edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Filmography
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
!Writer
!Producer
!Soundtrack<br>writer
|-
| 2001
| The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
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| 2002
| The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
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|-
| 2003
| The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
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|
|"The Edge of Night", "The Green Dragon"
|-
| 2005
| King Kong
|
|
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|-
| rowspan="2" |2009
|District 9
|
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|-
| The Lovely Bones
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|-
| 2012
| The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
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|-
| 2013
| The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
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|-
| 2014
| The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
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|
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|-
| 2018
| Mortal Engines
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|-
|2024
|The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
|
|
|
|}
Awards
In the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours, Boyens was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to film.