Tolkien Trust Sues New Line, May Kill "Hobbit"

oboreruhito writes "The AP is reporting that the Tolkien Trust and HarperCollins are suing New Line Cinema for $150 million in compensatory damages, unspecified punitive damages, and a court order revoking New Line's rights to produce any more films on Tolkien properties. The Tolkien Trust says that New Line paid them only $62,500 to make 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy of films — instead of the agreed-upon 7.5 percent of gross receipts of all film-related revenue. The suit may set back, if not kill, a film adaptation of Lord of the Rings prequel 'The Hobbit,' which Peter Jackson had recently signed up to make after his own legal row with the studio over payment for the sequels."

"'The Lord of teh Rings' trilogy". Jesus christ?

[dj42]

My subject is a quote from TFA.

Let's break this down.

"The Lord of teh Ring's trilogy"

You know what, I'm not even going to bother. What kind of retard submitted this?

Re:Wow!

[Farmer Tim]

the site's doing everything in its power to -be- Digg down to the very look and feel, and failing miserably.

Surely failing to imitate Digg is a good thing...

Re:"'The Lord of teh Rings' trilogy". Jesus christ

[Anonymous Coward]

What kind of retard submitted this?

My sources tell me that the submitter typed it correctly but that the Slashdot 'editors' were required to add the typo in order to 'keep it real'.

Re:In a very ironic way

[o'reor]

If I may say so, I truly wonder what Tolkien himself would think of all this pathetic bickering and bitter lawsuits.

I think he would recommend rising an army of Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits and horsemen to besiege the Two Towers of New Line Cinema, and shoot their Nazgul lawyers whenever you get a chance.

Wouldn't he?

anyone remember dragon magazine

[i.r.id10t]

Anyone else remember Dragon magazine and the spoof on getting sued by the Tolkien estate - they weren't allowed to say "ring".

"Someone get the phone, its circular metal banding off the hook!"

Nasty!!!

[seanmeister]

Nasty Tolkienses! TRICKSY!!!!!!

If no film makes a profit...

[msauve]

shouldn't the MPAA be thanking filesharers, since they're diluting their losses? (just using Hollywood accounting logic here)

Re:Wow!

[aplusjimages]

No that's the actual title of teh movie. They modernized it to get teh kids interested.

Re:Wow!

[somersault]

Meh, it was a poor attempt. Call me when Teh Lol of teh Ringz0rz comes out.

Re:This'll never win.

[sulliwan]

Lawyers are significantly more evil than the Nazgùl.

Re:When will they learn...

[John3]

Not exactly. He had already been paid quite a bit, but not nearly as much as they owed him.

They obviously didn't pay him enough to eat. Didn't you see how much weight he lost after making those films?!? :)

Movie industry math

[Anonymous Coward]

Breakdown of gross income on LOR movies:

Box office receipts = $6 billion
Loss to piracy = -$10 billion
Total gross income = -$3 billion

Sorry, there's no money left.

Re:In a very ironic way

[elrous0]

I truly wonder what Tolkien himself would think

I'm not positive; but I suspect his response would be long, boring, and involve a lot of walking.

Re:When will they learn...

[sorak]

So, is the accounting the only creative thing coming out of Hollywood these days?

Re:When will they learn...

[Wellspring]

They don't need Peter Jackson now-- they have a big hit franchise! Just scoop up Michael Bay and it'll do just fine. Or that guy who did Time Bandits. Whatever, the point is the kids won't know the difference. In this business, movies is movies, and when you got a great property and cash flying around, the artsy types can only mess it up.

Without guys like us making connections and cutting deals, there'd have been only one Highlander movie. And that would have been a real tragedy.

Re:When will they learn...

[DirkGently]

Armed with that, it's still wrong. In "TLORT", we have The Lord Of the Rings Trilogy. If you're going to include the leading article "the", you best include the latter one. "TLOTRT". Hrm. I'm going to have to remember that word next time I GM Cthuluhu.

Anyway, back to pedantics. I say he just fat-fingered it.

Re:This'll never win.

[Troy Baer]

I thought the Nazgùl were lawyers. Specifically, IBM's.

Terry Gilliam does the Hobbit?

[tjwhaynes]

Just scoop up Michael Bay and it'll do just fine. Or that guy who did Time Bandits.

Now there is a great idea - have Terry Gilliam do the Hobbit. Only the plot would need some twisting to make it into Gilliam territory.

When the dwarves are captured by the elves, at least one needs to die during interrogation while believing that they are escaping. Sting would need to be a vorpal blade. Smaug would swallow its victims and then spit out the bones. Some time travel would be inevitable while leaving Dale. Shelley Duval would make a cameo appearance asking Thorin to return the map. Thorin would become delusional and would try to reach the Mountain in a balloon. It would all end with Bard declaring that he was not the Messiah.

Cheers,
Toby Haynes

Re:When will they learn...

[evilklown]

That's because he was still living of LOTR catering that he smuggled out in ziplock bags. I guess King Kong either didn't have catering that was up to par or they had better buffet security.

A two-yeay-old painting over the Mona Lisa

[Anonymous Coward]

10 years of his life justifies a lot of money. Co-writing that screenplay does not. The screenplay was so bloody terrible compared to the original, it was like watching a two-year-old paint over the Mona Lisa. With a crayon.

Off Topic

[BillBrasky]

/silly
So, I have this idea for a great movie. It's about two gnomes who find a bracelet of power, and they have to take it to the Burning Steppes and cast it into the Cauldron. They form the Brotherhood of the Bracelet. Along the way they're trailed by a murloc named Gottom, who's obsessed with the bracelet, and nine bracelet bogeymen. It could be a three-parter, called 'Ruler of the Bracelet'. The first part would be called 'The Brotherhood of the Bracelet', followed by 'A Couple of Towers', with the climactic ending called 'Hey, the King's Back!'

Re:When will they learn...

[RDW]

Note sure about the original contract, but here's part of a transcript from one of their recent rounds of negotiations:

'These are the terms,' said the Messenger, and smiled as he eyed them one by one. 'The Tolkien Estate and its deluded allies shall withdraw at once beyond the Atlantic, first taking oaths never again to assail New Line with lawyers, open or secret. All Lord of the Rings (TM) prequel revenue shall be New Line's for ever, solely. Related mechandising including the Misty Mountains diorama and anything else we knock out to fill a Gap in the Market shall be tributary to New Line, and purchasers shall bear no unauthorized weapon replicas, but shall have leave to be governed by the relevant license agreements. But the Estate shall help to promote the movie which they have wantonly threatened, and that shall be New Line's, and its lieutenant shall direct: not Peter Jackson, but one more worthy of trust.'

Re:MOD PARENT UP -- "love" is a verb, after all

[Samrobb]

Sigh. I had mod points yesterday, but none today - otherwise you'd be getting them right now, sir.

Of course, I'd have to give you a "+1 - Ironic" for managing to turn a discussion of Hollywood accounting around to a discussion of why love is an action, not an emotion...

Re:Wow!

[mattsucks]

Teh Hobbit

Golollum: I Haz Teh Precious

Bilolbo: Lost Hobbit is Lost.

Gollum: I Can Has Bilburger?

Bilolbo: I'm In Ur Caves, Tellin' Ur Riddels

Golollum: WANT!

Bilolbo: A Ringz, I Findz It.

Golollum: Nooooes! They Be Stealing Mah Precious!!!

Bilolbo: Invisible Me.

Golollum: Mah Precious, I Mourns It.

Tagged: lolkien, lolbbit, golollum