A lawsuit between New Line Cinema and the heirs of JRR Tolkien could force the new Hobbit film by Guillermo del Toro to come to an abrupt and permanent end!
Tolkein’s heirs are claiming they were screwed out of some deserved funds from the profits of the Lord of The Rings films.
They are seeking the sum of $220 million dollars as well as the complete rights to future films based on Tolkien’s work. The rights would include the option to “terminate” any production that breaches the contract.
Bonnie Eskenazi, the representative of the Tolkein family, says: “Should the case go all the way to trial, we are confident that New Line will lose its rights to The Hobbit.”
The case is set to be heard at a Los Angeles superior court in October. Though Tolkin did indeed sell the film rights in 1969 for a meager upfront fee, he was also promised 7.5% of any future profits. In total, between theatrical and DVD sales, the Lord of The Rings trilogy made somewhere upwards of $6 billion dollars. The Tolkien estate has yet to see any of that profit and New Line’s argument is that the original contract was “ambiguous”.
Greedy, greedy, greedy!
Sorry Guellermo. As much as we’re sure the nerds of the world want to see your movie, we want justice to be served.
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