Oscars rewind — 2004: Peter Jackson pulls off a hat trick

Director Peter Jackson, being presented an Oscar by Tom Cruise, personally won three trophies, for writing, directing and producing “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” The film itself took home 11, winning every category in which it was nominated. Although this isn’t a guarantee of success, in the case of the 76th Academy Awards on Feb. 29, 2004, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, it was a perfect bellwether: Peter Jackson earned the Oscar for directing “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” It was the film’s 10th Oscar win of the night, and Jackson’s second — he also won that night for his adapted screenplay. Honestly, there were days when I was just turning to the actors and hoping they weren’t as tired as I was and pointing the camera at them, hoping we were getting good stuff.” Meanwhile, first-time nominee Coppola could go home soothed that her “Lost in Translation” earned her an original screenplay Oscar. Eastwood’s “Mystic River” was the first time he’d been nominated as a director but not won the award; he already had one Oscar for directing “Unforgiven” and would go on to win another for directing “Million Dollar Baby” later that year.