New Line Cinema Sued, No Hobbit Movies?
12 02 2008Hold onto your butts, New Line Cinema is being sued for $150 million in damages by the Tolkien Estate. They say they haven’t recieved a penny of the $6 billion+ that Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy grossed. Furthermore, they are threatening to take any further Tolkien projects, including the upcoming “Hobbit” films, elsewhere. This statement was released by the estate by way of Bonnie Eskenazi, its U.S. counsel:
“New Line has brought new meaning to the phrase ‘creative accounting.’ I cannot imagine how on earth New Line will argue to a jury that these films could gross literally billions of dollars, and yet the creator’s heirs, who are entitled to a share of gross receipts, don’t get a penny.”
Rough. I was not a fan of the “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, but I was more interested in the “Hobbit” films as Guillermo Del Toro was the main candidate to direct the films. It would be a bummer for that prospect to fall through, but I’m sure the films could be produced elsewhere just as well.
I could live without another version being made:
I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I thought they were all well made and very entertaining (though I never read the books). I was really excited when I heard Guillermo Del Toro was doing The Hobit films, he creates some really impressive characters. It would be interesting to see his take on the hobit’s world. I don’t need to say much about Pan’s Labyrinth, or Hellboy. Both films were awesome.