New Line chief vows never to work with Peter Jackson

By: Karl Schneider
Date: Wednesday, January 10, 2007

While doing an interview regarding The Last Mimzy, New Line's chief executive officer, Robert Shaye, had some blunt words for Peter Jackson.

"I don't care about Peter Jackson anymore," said Shaye.  "He wants to have another $100 million or $50 million, whatever he's suing us for. He doesn't want to sit down and talk about it. He thinks that we owe him something after we've paid him over a quarter of a billion dollars. ... Cheers, Peter."

He continued on to say, "There's a kind of arrogance.  Not that I don't think Peter is a good filmmaker and that he hasn't contributed significantly to filmography and made three very good movies. And I don't even expect him to say 'thank you' for having me make it happen and having New Line make it happen. But to think that I, as a functionary in [a] company that has been around for a long time, but is now owned by a very big conglomerate, would care one bit about trying to cheat the guy, ... he's either had very poor counsel or is completely misinformed and myopic to think that I care whether I give him [anything]."

Regarding making another Hobbit film with Jackson: "It will never happen during my watch," said Shaye.

Shaye also seemed upset with the fact that many of the Lord of the Rings trilogy actors have "suddenly, because, I'm guessing, of Peter's complaint," declined to participate in celebrating New Line's 40th anniversary. "I'm incredibly offended."



KJ's Take:  None of this is new with regards to the film The Hobbit, but this is the first time that Shaye has commented publicly about the whole mess and boy did he ever let it all out.

Even with the Tom Cruise fiasco we didn't see back and forth bickering through the media as fierce as this.  It's a bit much to tell you the truth.

Will we ever know who's right and who's wrong?  Maybe.  I think a lot of us fans tend to side with Peter Jackson, holding up our fists at the establishment, the big corporation, blindly faithful to the little guy, Jackson.

Fact is, Jackson is raking New Line over the bad publicity coals on this one, and I have no idea if he is right to do so.  Neither do you, you can't, none of us can.

I don't have access to the contract or to New Line's accounting books for the films, so I have no idea who's right and who's wrong.  I just wish they would let it play out in court rather than continue to taint both the studio's and Jackson's name.