Hobbit Hold-Up
Filed under: Film Flickers
The Hobbit may not be coming to movie theaters anytime soon if Christopher Tolkien has his way.
Christopher is the 83 year old son of J.R.R. Tolkien, and he's fighting to prevent the movie from being released.
He's currently in a court battle, attempting to stop the movie from being made.
What could be the problem?
Money, of course!
Tolkien claims his family is still owed a LOT of money from New Line Cinema, which purchased the rights in a 1978 sale and promised them 7.5% of the profits.
He says they are still owed over $150 million!!
And with the studio now under, Warner Bros has no comment on its financial problems.
The Hobbit was set to be released in December 2010, but let's see if it makes it that far.
The next court hearing will be on June 6th, when Tolkien will petition a California judge to terminate the film rights.
Hey, we're all up for seeing the movie, but if they are owed money, then they are owed money.
Pay up!!!
wtf
I DONT CARE HOBBITS ARE STUPID
you suck
Pay the man! 23rd!
They should pay Tolkien's family! Gosh, 150 mil should be a drop in the bucket for New Line considering that LOTR trilogy made them millions upon millions the world over.
PAY THEM ALREADY!!!! I, for one, want to see this film made and can't wait to watch it.
Everyone: Read The Hobbit! It is the best Tolkien work
150 million b*tches!
1st
c
First, for real?
First Bitches!!!!
Wow…this is the closest I've gotten to first! Love you, Perez!!!!
I so hope they can get Sir ian Holm and Sir Ian McKellen again for the roles of Bilbo and Gandalf!! It would not be The Hobbit without them!
PAY UP!
Re: Rochelle – more like the trilogy made the studios billions
PAY THE MAN TO GO AWAY HIS BOOKS SUCK(although good graphics) I could,nt watch the first 10 minutes OF THE FIRST MOVIE. Go Away!!!!!!!!!!!!!
shady…. pay the man and let us have the movie!!!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
I loved the LOTR trilogy and am so looking forward to seeing The Hobbit…greed is such a nasty thing eh?
I think he's right to want the money. But id rather have an amazing film being made, with the tolkien estate still being owed money, rather than no film at all. Its not like they NEED the money RIGHT NOW, anyway.
the film industry is one of the sleaziest, amoral places to make a deal. Even with a contract. People are screwed every day- some of the biggest names are the biggest liars and number manipulators. What they are is thieves- and they not only will steal cash (because they are greedy) but also ideas. Good luck getting your money from them- because the Hollywood lawyers have to get their cut. They should have never sold those rights.
Life must be great to get paid that kind of money for doing absolutely shit.
Talk about scamming off your fathers talent!! thats just gross…let everyone watch the movies and enjoy the story!! they might end up loving it enough to read to books…
Re: sam –
wow. that's the most retarded comment i've ever read. sure, why pay them the royalties they're owned? i'm sure they'd much prefer to see new line make another billion or so as long as there's a great movie out there for the masses!
you stupid fuck. let's see how long you'd stay at your job if your boss stopped paying you - instead saying "isn't the satisfaction of doing a good job worth it???"
retard.
Gee, New Line just so happened to shut down after the Lord of the Rings trilogy was completed — which makes paying the Tolkien estate a bit more difficult to do. I'm sure that's just a coincidence.
Look at the photoshopped line of little Gimli's!
Amazingly, no movie or television production has ever made a profit. Always cut your deal on the gross, not the net.
The family didn't create The Hobbit. J.R.Tolkien is dead… he can't collect what was probaby owed to him, and the family didn't create The Hobbit, so wtf are they complaining for? If New Line bought the rights in 1978 and promised a percentage of the profit, wtf is the family bitching about? The movie hasn't even come out yet to make a profit (unless I'm mistaken and new line has already released a hobbit movie). Are they owed money on The Hobbit, or the LTR series?
If they wait a couple of years then the old fuck will kick off allowing them to make the movie…isn't that what Hollywood was made on??? Other peoples ideas with that person not getting credit???
whoever read the hobbit knows that it shows that people can go apeshit over money, like the fucking dwarves and stuff in the book…
re: crispy
He wants to get paid the money he is owed for the three LOTR movies that the studios made tons of money on. He wants to halt the hobbit until he gets paid what they already owe him from those three movies that have been out.
Shady…shady
Just pay the man what he's legally entitled to so we can get the hobbit already
Check out the actress who played Ruthie on 7th Heaven in her underwear and kissing another girl!
www.outtarehab.com
aw that sucks!! I WANT TO SEE THE HOBBIT =(
83 year old son?! He's almost DEAD! Release the movie for those of us who are still alive!!
Good for him!! His family deserves that money… his father was an amazing writer and his work deserves to be recognized considering how much will be made off of the film the Hobbit (which will be a ton cause the book is amazing).
Also I agree, read the Hobbit and also the whole trilogy the books are even better than the films. Everyone should read these remarkable books.
DON'T GO SEE THAT MOVIE!!!
THE FUCKERS FROM NLC KICKED PETER JACKSON OUT!!
THIS MOVIE IS GOING TO BE A REAL SHIT MOVIE!!!!
Actually, The Hobbit is set to come out Dec of 2011 and Film Two Dec of 2012, according to an interview done by Guillermo del Toro, the director, and Peter Jackson.
Honestly, New Line Cinema owed them money, which no longer exists. If you have a gift card to Olive Garden and they go out of business…you're screwed, sorry. It doesn't really say how long he's been fighting this but if it's a recent case, why bring it up now at 83?
DAMMIT…I NEED THAT MOVIE! DAMN YOU NEW LINE! Its Tolkeins freakin brother, they'll make even more money if he just let the movie be RELEASED, dumbass
The trilogy grossed a total of $1,061,000,000, and the budget for all 3 was a combined $297,000,000. The remainder of $764,000,000, if split 50/50 with theaters, leaves a net profit of $384,000,000 for the studio. 7.5% of that equals $28,650,000, not $150,000,000, so Christopher Tolkien is full of shit six times over.
Pay up greedy mutha fuckers or the LOTR/Hobbit fans are gonna bust a cap in your ass.
Tolkien's son is such a nasty little shit. Every time he starts running out of money he does an insanely crappy edit of one of his Dad's works and publishes it. I understand he is owed money, but karma can be a bitch and it's running out of time to nip him in the ass. I'm sure his Dad would not appreciate him making money off crappy versions of his works. Tolkien must be rolling in his grave!
Re: Melanie – what are you four? Do Hobbits have cooties too?
Peter Jackson tried to get a look at the books when the money didn't add up and then 'New Line got protection and got to keep every dime they pilfered. So I hope Whatever studio is making the film can reach a deal (and I hope they do the right thing and work with the family). I read the 'LOTR Trilogy has already earned $3.5 billion globally and is expected to hit $5 billion. What's a couple hundred million to the family, when the rights to the trilogy went for next to nothing?