It's somewhat hard to believe that nearly a decade has passed since production began on The Lord of the Rings trilogy and New Line, via parent company Time Warner Inc., still hasn't figured out a way to make all principle parties happy. Or that they would be willing to go back to court, this time against the Tolkien estate, with preproduction heating up with The Hobbit prequels.
But Bloomberg is reporting exactly that, with the ongoing court case--Christopher Reuel Tolkien v. New Line Cinema Corp., BC385294, Los Angeles County Superior Court--still looming over both sides and no monetary settlement in sight.
The two sides have held settlement talks, Eskenazi said, adding they remain far apart and are proceeding to trial.
“Should this case go all the way through trial, we are confident that New Line will lose its right to release ‘The Hobbit,’” Eskenazi said in an interview.
Time Warner’s attorney, Brad Brian of Munger Tolles in Los Angeles, said in an e-mailed statement today that the contract is ambiguous.
The company is asking Judge Ann I. Jones to reject the heirs’ claim they can revoke rights to the “Hobbit.”
“The studios have historically played hardball in litigation,” O’Donnell said. “Also, these are hard times and they maybe think it’s cheaper to pay the lawyers than to pay a large claim. And maybe the lawyers think they have meritorious defenses.”
To read the full report click here.
Director Guillermo del Toro as well as executive producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh are currently fleshing out a script for The Hobbit: Part I & Part II.
Thanks to Bmfstunner for the submission.
I admit I don't understand all this nonsense...but if the Tolkien estate isn't getting what is rightfully theirs, then they should fight it out.
If I remember the story right, Pete Jackson and rest had to force New Line to open the financial books because it appeared they were getting shafted as well.
The studios will hold onto every penny they can....as hard as they can, and will only lose as little as they can. We've seen this happen before, over and over.
The thing with the Tolkien estate is that they're notorious for attempting legal douchebaggery, having squashed small companies in the past when they wanted more money, and generally want more than their fair share. In Peter Jackson's case, it was pretty obvious that he had a case, but when it comes to the Tolkien family...
Let's just say that there's a reason why the rights were obtained through Saul Zaentz, and not the Tolkien estate.
There are 2 parts to the suit, one is for royalties owed from the first trilogy and the second is to revoke the rights
On the royalties, it sounds like WB/New Line are being the same old assholes they were with Jackson. Jackson had to sue and so did Zaents but the latter didn't make the headlines like PJ's suit did. They have not paid the heirs anything at all even though they've done 6billion worth from the releases and dvd sales. Shame on them. The contract calls for 7.5 percent
On the rights to The Hobbit, unless you have a copy of the contract is hard to make a conclusion but I'd think the studio is probably on the right.
And to add a little spice, News Corp, the owner of Fox, is a plaintiff cause they have the book distribution rights through Harper Collins. Doesn't anyone think that perhaps NewsCorp is maybe adding flame to the fire in the hopes of getting the movie rights to The Hobbit as well
I never understand why it takes so long to right a script from a book. It's all right there. When you read it you picture what it should look like in your head so what's the problem?
even though the hobbit is one book, think of how much is in that book.
you need to make sure that in 2.5 hours you can tell the story of the book and get all that in, otherwise you have to cut something out. if you cut out a scene that someone refers to later on, then you have to make that change as well. if you change the second scene and something in it is needed for later, you either keep it intact except for the mention of the first scene or you rewrite something in it to keep from needing it later on...
think about all the stuff that wasnt filmed for the LOTR and all the stuff that was cut out. even harry potter books to film have left out stuff. that is why the last book is being made into 2 movies. the producers and writers know that there is too much for one 3 hour movie...
thats why you cant just take a book and drop it in to a movie. or are you willing to watch some thing in a theater for 6 hours or more?
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I don't know enough about the rights to the Hobbit. I was always under the impression that Tolkien sold the rights and now the family isn't happy with what they are getting out of the blockbusters that are these movies. They were upset about the LOTR movies too and what they got out of that, weren't they?
Anyone have specifics on this?