Sir Peter Jackson joins Colossal Biosciences CEO Ben Lamm and Ngāi Tahu archaeologist Kyle Davis for a discussion with ScreenRant about their bold mission to bring back the extinct giant moa in a first-of-its-kind Māori-led de-extinction effort.

Peter Jackson isn’t directing Jurᴀssic World: Rebirth, but he may help make it real. The Oscar-winning filmmaker behind The Lord of the Rings has officially joined forces with Colossal Biosciences and the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre on an ambitious real-world mission: to bring back the South Island Giant Moa, a flightless bird that once stood over 12 feet tall and vanished from New Zealand nearly 600 years ago.

The moa, which lived alongside Māori ancestors in Aotearoa (the Māori name for New Zealand), is the centerpiece of a first-of-its-kind indigenous-directed de-extinction project that blends cutting-edge science with traditional Māori knowledge.

To learn more, we spoke with Peter Jackson alongside Colossal CEO Ben Lamm and Ngāi Tahu archaeologist Kyle Davis, who shared with ScreenRant the behind-the-scenes story and what comes next.

“So, my partner Fran and I said to Ben on that first call that we will invest in the company so long as you spend our money on the Moa,” Jackson laughs. “That was the deal, really.”

We had just spoken with Ben Lamm after the Jurᴀssic World: Rebirth premiere to gauge his thoughts on the franchise’s evolving depiction of de-extinction, and weeks earlier, also met with him to discuss how Colossal Biosciences is working to bring back the Dire Wolf. For this conversation however, we were looking at the beginning of something new that directly involves a filmmaker and is leading to a significant expansion to Colossal’s physical laboratories.

A Very Peter Jackson Origin Story

The Hollywood Connection That Got Peter Jackson Investing in Colossal

Jackson tells us he was introduced to Colossal by fellow filmmaker Michael Dougherty (Krampus, Godzilla: King of the Monsters), who was already secretly working with and documenting the company’s work on species like the Woolly Mouse. But Jackson’s interest was specific and personal.

“When you’re growing up in New Zealand, the Moa is a very important and dominant part of our culture. Even though it’s been extinct for 600 years, it was the biggest bird that ever lived. It is not a dinosaur, in a sense that it was that long ago. It lived here when humans were here. It’s always been one of those romantic ideas that the Moa could come back one day.”

Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh offered to invest, on the condition that the company commit to a Moa revival. Now, that idea is becoming a reality.

The Science Behind the Bird

Inside the First 12 Months of Moa Resurrection

Ben Lamm lights up when talking about the science already underway. He tells us that sampling began in late 2024 using Jackson and Walsh’s own collection of 300 to 400 Moa bones and what’s available at Canterbury Museum. “And we’re already doing sequencing, which is great,” adds Lamm.

“The next year is also hunting for Moa bone,” Jackson adds. “Because while we had 400 bones, only 25 of them were deemed viable for DNA. They have to be dense and heavy, they can’t be lightweight.”

“And of those 25, only two of the samples provided a viable genome. There was a stout-legged Moa and a little bush Moa. Because of our bones, we’ve got all nine species in our collection, but out of 400 bones, only two are viable for DNA. That’s the strike rate.”

Colossal is now building complete reference genomes not just for the Giant Moa, but all nine extinct Moa species, Lamm explained to us. Their work includes a breeding colony of tinamous (the closest living relative to the Moa), studying emus, and developing primordial germ cells, which are critical tools for synthetic reproduction. The tinamous, Lamm tells us, could very well be how the Giant Moa can be bred once engineered:

“We actually have a breeding colony of Tinamous that we’re studying and using for research purposes because that could be the surrogate. We’ve also created primordial germ cells in Emu, which is a huge step. No one’s ever done this. So, we’re already in the process. The next year, for us, looks at finishing out the computational analysis and doing the sequencing.”

Lamm is hopeful that by mid-2026 they’ll “start the editing process and start engineering the Moa.”

Where the Moa Really Came From

While the Moa might seem like an ancient relic from the dinosaur age, scientists say that’s not quite true. I reached out to evolutionary biologist Professor Matthew Phillips whose research shows that giant flightless birds like the Moa, ostrich, and emu didn’t all evolve from one big, grounded ancestor.

Instead, their flying ancestors likely spread to different parts of the world and then lost the ability to fly over time. In other words, the Moa was a unique product of evolution in New Zealand, not a leftover from some ancient era. It only went exctinct centuries ago.

Where Will the Moa Live? Rewilding Plans Look to Ancient Refuges

While the lab work unfolds, another critical question looms: where would a resurrected Moa actually live if this project succeeds?

Colossal Biosciences has emphasized rewilding as a core part of its conservation mission. This refers to the long-term goal of returning de-extinct species to their natural habitats, including the widely discussed project to bring back the woolly mammoth to the Arctic tundra. For the Moa project, that means not just bringing a bird back to life in a lab, but eventually restoring it to the wild in a way that supports healthy ecosystems and biodiversity.

A 2024 study referred to me by Phillips and published in Nature Ecology & Evolution offers important clues. Researchers found that as Moa populations declined due to early human activity, the final survivors clustered in cold, mountainous areas that acted as ecological refuges. These were remote and less disturbed habitats where the birds persisted the longest.

Today, those same regions are home to some of New Zealand’s few remaining flightless birds. This continuity suggests that ancient refuges could play a role in future Moa reintroduction, particularly in fenced ecological preserves that mimic their former environment while supporting nearby ecosystems.

According to the official partnership announcement, Colossal and the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre plan to develop a conservation ᴀssessment, risk evaluation, and rewilding plan. These documents would consider not just where the Moa could survive, but how its return might affect the plants, animals, and people already living in those areas.

Ngāi Tahu Takes the Lead in Historic Conservation Effort

Indigenous Knowledge Is Steering the Moa’s Return

For Ngāi Tahu archaeologist Kyle Davis, the project holds deep ancestral meaning.

“Modern tribal members living today descend from the people who were likely responsible, in hindsight, for its extinction,” Davis tells us when explaining his personal interest in the project. “Understanding those dynamics, as to how our culture evolved and how we developed the way that we view endangered species or the protection of ecological items, is of huge interest for our tribal story.”

“De-extincting it and being able to observe it and interact with it on occasion is going to largely help with that research, for sure.”

What About The Giant Moa’s Predators?

It Wasn’t Just Humans Who Hunted The 12-foot Flightless Birds

While humans were ultimately responsible for driving the Moa to extinction through hunting and habitat loss, the giant bird did once have a natural predator: the Haast’s eagle, a mᴀssive raptor capable of taking down even the largest Moa.

Since the goal is to re-introduce species into the wild, I had to ask the group that if they can bring back the Moa, do they also need to bring back its ancient predator to restore ecological balance? Kyle Davis explained:

“We were the original predator for these things, predominantly, and we won’t be volunteering an interest in feasting on these things anytime soon. However, should there need to be controls in place for overpopulation, we’ll be there to help. The giant eagle [Haast’s eagle] is another one of those icons that fascinates the hell out of us. You’re going to need an aviary on the scale of Jurᴀssic Park 3 to even begin that conversation.”

“Yeah, the Haast’s eagle also attacked humans, and it lived at a time where there were no pets,” Peter Jackson added. “Nobody had cats and dogs, so God knows it would be an appalling thing to have that eagle back again. It would prey on everybody’s cats and dogs, and it would just not be good for Colossal’s PR.”

Even Lamm joined in with a laugh:

“People are scared of things like Sabertooth tigers, but I think it’s things like the Haast’s eagle that would keep me up at night.”

Real Life Jurᴀssic World? Not Quite

More Like Little Jurᴀssic Parks

Despite the obvious comparisons of Colossal’s de-extinction work to Jurᴀssic Park, no one expects wild Moa to roam the streets of Christchurch anytime soon.

“The idea is to build large ecological preserves, which are fenced in, with the plants and everything else that the Moa subsisted on,” Jackson explains to us. “For the first few decades, it’s going to be keeping them fenced in, as it were, growing a population, and studying them. Then, whether there’s a decision to release them into the wild one day, I suspect that’s a decision outside of our lifetime.”

Christchurch is the largest city in New Zealand’s South Island and once home to the moa and Haast’s eagles.

Does This Mean Peter Jackson Moving on From Filmmaking?

Jackson was quick to answer when we asked if this work and investment into Colossal Biosciences meant he’s retired from directing:

“No, no. I’m certainly not retired,” he says. “We are currently working on three different screenplays. We’re producing and writing The Hunt for Gollum, which Andy Serkis is going to direct next year.”

He’s also continued documentary work in recent years with They Shall Not Grow Old and The Beatles: Get Back project. But even with a full slate, Jackson said this Moa revival might be his most exciting project yet, something I can fully understand as working on natural history projects with National Geographic is more exciting for me than most other entertainment projects.

“To me, de-extincting the Moa would be just as exciting, if not more, than any film I could possibly make.”

Looking Ahead

Beyond the science, the Moa project is creating educational programs, ecotourism opportunities, and new conservation tools for other endangered species in Aotearoa, explains Colossal.

This part is crucial to the mission of the partnership since these ventures are Ngāi Tahu-owned and operated, and the research facilities will showcase Māori leadership in conservation innovation.

Colossal Biosciences is also committing to the creation of Colossal Labs New Zealand, a “subsidiary of the company and all data, technology, and research will be provided directly to the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre.”

If the Moa does walk the Earth again, it will be thanks to a rare partnership involving science, culture, and what may be Peter Jackson’s most ambitious story yet.

Sources: Colossal, Nature Ecology & Evolution, University of Canterbury